A Silent Hero
by FalDrey
Summary: Arlia Rider's life sucks. She often dreamed of being whisked away to Star Wars. She just didn't think it would actually happen. Constructive criticism welcome. Please review. (LUKE/OC)(HAN/LEIA)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Star Wars belongs to Disney/Lucasfilm. Only Arlia is mine.**

Arlia creaked into bed, pulling the soft sheets over her tired body. During the school holidays, she'd been replaying the Star Wars movies, mostly as an escapism from the mess that was her life.

How she longed to be whisked away and fight Darth Vader, a comparatively better fate than the dread of returning to her hell-hole of a high school.

Pushing all anxious thoughts out of her mind, she drifted into a blissful sleep, dreaming of lasers and droids and wondering which she liked better, Luke Skywalker or Han Solo.

When she awoke, she felt hot and uncomfortable. Sitting up caused sand to slide off her clothes and in shock, Arlia leaped to her feet and spun around.

All that could be seen until the horizon was desert, a hot, yellow and sandy desert. A few large dunes were visible but every inch of it had the sun beating relentlessly on its yellow grains.

As if to assure herself it was real, she grasped some sand in her hand and let it slide back to the ground. The coarse grains irritated her hands and she could quite understand why Anakin Skywalker hated sand.

Arlia gulped, her throat feeling worryingly dry. Mentally shaking away the nervous butterflies that were trying to escape her stomach, her mind desperately tried to recall the survival books she had read.

For whatever reason, she was in the middle of some God-forsaken desert, with no idea why or how. One fact remained in her brain; a human can survive for up to three days without water.

 _I can walk pretty far in three days_ , she thought brightly, forcing a wide grin over her freckled face, having once heard you can improve your mood if you keep smiling.

Randomly picking a route in which to march, she trudged that way, in the opposite direction of the two suns. Wait, what? Dismissing it as a mirage, but not daring to look again, she began her walk, one step after the other.

Looking at her shoes as they made an awful squeak noise every time they squished into the sand, Arlia realised she was wearing a pair of boots she had never seen before in her life.

Not only that but the grey T-shirt and the white padded pants and jacket were completely foreign to her. The only explanation was memory loss, it had to be. That being said, it wasn't a very reassuring thought, it could be the first sign of her losing her mind.

Arlia sung positive songs in her head, knowing not to speak to conserve energy. But still, it was getting dark, there was no sign of civilisation and her limbs were deadening from exhaustion.

Reaching the top of a sand dune, she didn't think she could take another step. Her dodgy knees buckled and she rolled down the other side, tumbling as if in the Princess Bride. Arlia's stomach churned. She'd always suffered from motion sickness and after finally coming to a stop, lying at the bottom of the dune seemed like a nice option.

Remaining there for a few moments, she tore off her jacket and willed herself to stand. Taking a few steps, Arlia thought she could see something that looked like a settlement. Physically unable to drag herself there, she stumbled, this time being caught by someone.

Staring gratefully at their obscured face, she was half-carried, half-dragged to a dome shaped house who's outline was just visible in the fading sunlight.

Dazed, she could only recognise her rescuer as a young man who then handed her over to an older couple that gave her a bed.

Somewhere in her delirium, she could have sworn their voices sounded familiar. One unseen person sounded almost like a butler, perhaps C-3PO...

Arlia trailed off into sleep but was awoken early the next morning by the unmistakable sound of someone dropping something, a clang followed by mild cursing.

"Oh, sorry." said the person, seeing her eyes flicker open.

"Water?" she rasped, turning over to face them but recoiled in utter confusion.

"Here." It was her rescuer from last night who gave her a canteen to sip from.

Her eyes were still widened as she gulped cool water and they examined the boy's appearance. He had the familiar 70's haircut and baggy space clothes that slightly amused Arlia but it was undoubtedly him.

"I'm Luke Skywalker." he said, tasking the canteen back and attaching it to his belt.

Arlia forced herself to speak, trying desperately not to look surprised as she told him her name. All the while, she pinched herself under the covers, hardly daring to believe she was in the midst of a conversation with Luke Skywalker!

"Nice to meet you Arlia." Luke was oblivious to her inner turmoil and gave her a welcoming smile. "I'm sorry but I have to go and track down a missing droid. Only, don't tell my aunt and uncle, they'll be furious."

"I won't." She shook her head vigorously as Luke silently exited leaving Arlia to process everything. Of course she was exited but also confused, nervous and a little homesick especially as she recognised none of the objects in the room.

 _I'm in Star Wars!_ She screamed in her head. _But why? The force? Maybe._ Anything could happen and from the short interchange between her and Luke, she knew what would happen next.

The many questions that ricocheted around her brain made her think her head might explode but they disappeared when the older woman from last night poked her head inside the room.

"You're awake!" the woman exclaimed and held out a glass with a blue liquid inside, very likely the milk from 'A New Hope.' Taking small sips, she could taste the vague milky flavour that she disliked and drank only out of politeness. Once again, Arlia introduced herself and when the woman said to call her Aunt Beru, she couldn't have been less surprised.

"Where did you come from my dear?"

"I don't remember." she croaked, her throat still recovering from the day before. It was easier to lie, especially to this woman she realised wouldn't live much longer. Arlia was rendered slightly sad, especially when she recalled Luke.

"Amnesia." Aunt Beru said knowledgeably. "Tell me, have you seen Luke?"

Arlia remembered the farm boy's words. "No," she fibbed before continuing. "Some stormtroopers might come and you could die, I..." Her voice died away as Aunt Beru looked strangely at her.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Um."

"It's probably heat stroke my dear. Just rest. Call me if you need anything." She exited the room and left Arlia to her own devices.

"Darn." It was an impossible situation to be in. Damned if she does and damned if she doesn't. Arlia could save Luke's Aunt and Uncle but there she thought of another repercussion. Luke might not go to Alderaan. _What_ _should I do?_

The girl crept out of bed and had a closer look at some of the strange objects in the room.

She didn't know how long she stood there, fiddling with some unknown mechanism by the door but was interrupted by a shout.

"Come out with your hands up!" yelled a mechanical voice. With a jolt of panic, Arlia realised it was the stormtroopers. She scrambled to put on her jacket and ran downstairs, scared, to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru.

"You can't go up there."

They looked at her and it was with guilt, she could see there was no way of explaining this.

"It's dangerous and you might die. Please don't." _How can I ever explain to Luke I knew and could have stopped their deaths, had I tried harder to warn them?_

The stormtrooper repeated his instruction.

"Wait here." Uncle Owen told her and both marched up to their inevitable doom.

"Is there anyone else?" one of the stormtroopers asked menacingly as the group held their blasters, ready to fire.

"No." Aunt Beru protected the girl as Arlia watched on, just out of sight. A short exchange to do with droids ensued and before her very naïve eyes, two innocent people were blasted with laser fire. The smoke cleared and there was nothing where the pair had been standing but two skeletons. Arlia couldn't help but gasp filled with remorse at her actions and anger over their deaths.

"Search the house." came the command and she knew they were bound to find and kill her. She scampered, terrified, back to the room she'd shared with Luke.

Arlia considered her options as her panic levels steadily increased. Locking the door wasn't good enough, she'd seen enough Star Wars to know that. She couldn't fight them off, they had blasters. Her only chance would be to somehow disarm one of them and she lacked confidence in her combat abilities, rather, the lack of them. There was no likelihood of there being a blaster in the house and as she gazed desperately around the room for a weapon, she ran out of time.

A stormtrooper, armed and ready, scoured the rooms nearby. It wasn't long before he was upon her and in despair, she threw herself behind a cupboard as he entered. The stromtrooper had only entered a few feet before a swift but feeble kick to the back of his legs made him stumble, though not sending him to the ground.

As he turned around to fire, she gripped his wrist and held the blaster away from her face, whilst trying to wrestle it out of his hands. Experienced at doing the same sort of thing to her younger brother, she knocked it away, aware she wouldn't have long to figure out how to fire it.

Then, using all her strength, Arlia delivered the most powerful punch she could muster to his face, shaking off the pain it caused her own fist.

"Ow!" It didn't knock him out like it might in the movies, only sprawling him on the ground, stunned.

Arlia pulled what she assumed was the trigger of the E-11 Blaster Rifle she knew was used by the Imperial Stormtroopers. She could even tell you the previous model this particular blaster was based on but the fact it fired was, from her perspective, pure luck.

It was set to lethal and scorched the walls, not coming close to hitting the target.

"Hell!"she cursed, fumbling to hit the disarmed soldier before attracting the attention of his comrades.

Several blasts later, it hit him in the chest, ripping a fleshy hole in his armour that stopped the stormtrooper in his tracks.

Arlia was puffing but couldn't stop. The other stormtroopers came running, firing at her. She warded them off with her newly acquired blaster, taking shelter behind a wall.

She even managed to hit some of them when a searing pain stung her shoulder as a red laser hit her. Adrenaline kept her going but, only just, as varying shots ranging from flukes to well-aimed killed the others.

Dead. The word hit her like a tonne of bricks. She had just killed several people, evil ones, but people nonetheless. The body of one stormtrooper lay in one room, the others at the end of a corridor.

Arlia was at a loss at what to do next. She could still feel the dull throb of pain in her shoulder and took a closer look. The blaster fire had torn through her padded jacket and shirt, tearing away several layers of skin. It left a red, exposed and very painful bit of flesh that Arlia knew had to be dealt with but she had no idea how to approach it.

She was aware of something to do with healing called bacta but where to find it or how to use it was beyond her knowledge. Even finding somewhere for medical attention was impossible. Glancing back at the stormtroopers, she didn't want them to be scattered about the house as evidence of a battle so, one-handed, dragged them into a pile and shoved them in a room. Locking the door she heard a person calling out.

"Uncle Owen! Aunt Beru!" It was Luke. He would soon discover their bodies and her heart ached with empathy. Arlia grabbed a blaster and clambered up the stairs, dodging the bodies that Luke was gazing dismally at.

"I'm so sorry Luke." Whenever she watched 'A New Hope', it never occurred to her to be sad about these largely insignificant people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Being here had changed that, now she could see the sacrifice they made. She couldn't save them, not without ruining things. And now she had to carry that burden with her forever.

Luke finally acknowledged Arlia. "What happened?" he swallowed, preparing himself.

"Some stormtroopers came. They did this. It was something about two droids. Why did they do this?" she asked, knowing full well the answer.

"They were looking for two droids named C-3PO and R2-D2," he said slowly, testing if he could trust her. "They are carrying important information that the Empire doesn't want passed on to the Rebellion."

"The Rebellion!" she feigned surprise. It was easy as she knew how the story would go.

"Yes." he paused. "I'm going to Alderaan to deliver them to the Rebel Alliance." Arlia was relieved. She'd forgotten that her unexpected presence could change how events transpired and it was good to know Luke was still going to Alderaan with Obi-Wan.

"Your arm!" Luke noticed the massive hole and quickly bandaged it until they could find somewhere to get it treated. He was impressed with her handiwork, taking out all the stormtroopers was, in his mind, a great feat for someone who seemed so out of place and unused to the things around her. _I mean_ , he thought, _she had no idea how to take care of a blaster wound._

It was almost as if he could feel how uncomfortable she was and how she wished to be able to say something commiserating about his loss. Climbing in the speeder on the way to Obi-Wan was a new and exciting experience and she discretely had a look at their shadow as they hovered at high speed.

"I really am sorry Luke." Arlia felt obliged to say when he shed a few tears.

"It wasn't your fault." He used his sleeve to wipe away the salty liquid that ran down his face.

"They died heroes."she said quietly.

"What?" Luke turned his head quickly.

"The stormtroopers said to come out with your hands up. Your aunt and uncle said to stay put. They didn't tell them I was there, even when asked. They saved my life." Arlia spoke disjointedly and awkwardly. She was always like that with people she wasn't comfortable with. Overthinking conversations to avoid being judged was her lot in life.

The only people she could truly be herself with were her family. So Arlia was often silent, too scared to say anything and often mistaken for being shy. It frustrated her that even in Star Wars, she couldn't come out of her shell more and be herself.

It was strange, Luke could have sworn he was hearing her thoughts in his head for they weren't his own. _Who was this mysterious Arlia?_ He thought.

 **A/N: Thanks to _ChocolateTeapot_ for the review and helping me fix some errors. The plot detail of trying to warn Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru was her idea.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry for the long delay. No WiFi for ages! Anyhow, here's the next installment.**

Arlia and Luke arrived at the sand crawler and to her delight, were greeted by the sight of Obi-Wan, C-3PO and R2-D2.

The golden-coloured robot was burning Jawa bodies, creating an uncomfortable heat in the already scorching desert as he dumped their little frames on the fire. Luke jumped out of the speeder and hurried to face Obi-Wan. The old Jedi had guessed what happened.

"There's nothing you could have done Luke, had you been there. You'd have been killed, too, and the droids would be in the hands of the empire."

Luke gazed solemnly at him. "I want to come with you to Alderaan, there's nothing for me here now. I want to learn the ways of the force and become a Jedi like my father."

Obi-Wan clapped him lightly on the shoulder, pleased with the boy's decision. He turned his attention to the girl who stood several feet behind Luke.

"Who is this young lady?" he said with a grand sweep of the arm.

She stepped forward. "I'm Arlia Rider, sir."

"We found her last night, wandering out in the dunes." Luke explained.

"Where do you come from?" Obi-Wan arched his eyebrows quizzically.

Arlia took a deep breath. "There's no way you'd know what I'm talking about."

"What do you mean?" Luke was back to his usual, slightly whiny self that Arlia might have been annoyed with whilst watching the movie but now, she was glad to see him less subdued.

There was a moment of silence as she considered a response. Hopefully, she might be able to stick around these people for quite a while and the truth is always best.

"My planet is called Earth."

"I've never heard of it!" Luke's eyes darted in surprise between Arlia and Obi-Wan.

"How did you get here?" Ben Kenobi, being the wise old man he was kept an open mind and calm attitude for he sensed something strange about this girl.

"I don't know." The whole story came pouring out. "One minute, I was going to sleep in my bed and the next, I woke up in the middle of a desert." Arlia could see them looking at her and despite their poker faces, she could sense their disbelief. Even the expressionless C-3PO seemed unsure.

"Amnesia?" Luke suggested, less confidently than Arlia remembered his Aunt doing so. There it was, the guilt rushing through her again.

"Perhaps?" The greying Jedi knight weighed up the situation, Arlia anxiously clicking her fingers by way of habit. There were two possible out comes in her mind; one, be allowed to go to Alderaan and begin an heroic journey or, two; be left to her own devices here on Tatooine and hopefully suffer a quick and painless death. She'd probably try to antagonize a bounty hunter, it wouldn't be worth being separated from her family if she couldn't embark on a thrilling escapade.

Sensing potential within her, Ben came to a decision. "I think, Miss Rider, you should accompany us to Alderaan."

Arlia breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Maybe being transported here could mean something, even if only to her.

Obi-Wan gestured with his head for the group to board Luke's speeder and as Arlia did so, she was approached by the two droids.

"Hello Miss Rider, I am C-3PO and this is my counterpart, R2-D2. We are pleased to make your acquaintance." By some way of agreement, the little blue droid made beeping noises. It made Arlia want to smile, Threepio being her favourite Star Wars character. Stuff Darth Vader and Han Solo, this golden-coloured robot is a pretty cool guy.

On the other hand, she couldn't reveal how much she knew about him or R2. Obi-Wan's name could not even pass her lips, being a force user, she thought it likely he'd realise he'd never introduced himself. That would lead to more questions, many of which Arlia doubted she could adequately answer.

"Please, call me Arlia," she laughed slightly as the droids were helped into the speeder. She looked skeptically at the amount of room for passengers, Luke figuring out the same thing.

"I'm sorry, there's not enough room, I..." He watched as she hitched herself on the back, clinging to R2 and C-3PO. "Oh, okay. Hold on tight." Luke started up the speeder, driving it in the direction Obi-Wan told him to, towards Mos Eisley spaceport.

"Stop here," Ben said, motioning to a spot nearby a crag.

"Are we there yet?" Arlia clambered out of the speeder, joining the others at the edge of a cliff.

"Mos Eisley spaceport," the Jedi said. " You will never find a more wretched hide of scum and villiany. We must be cautious."

Ignoring the warning, Arlia stepped closer to the edge, gazing in amazement at the dome-shaped buildings, bigger than Luke's home. Mos Eisley was crawling with activity, the most she had seen since arriving on Tatooine. It was comforting to see this sort-of oasis in the middle of a hot, dry and desolate desert.

"Arlia." Luke rested a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go."

She was mesmerized at seeing this place with her own eyes and had to be ushered back to the speeder. Reminding herself of the events to follow, she sat back, ignoring the anger she felt towards the various stormtroopers she could see scattered around the spaceport as they zoomed into its boundaries.

A group of troopers stopped Luke's speeder and Arlia could feel her companions tensing.

"How long have you had these droids?" asked one stormtrooper.

"About three or four seasons." Luke lied.

"They're for sale if you want them," Ben said smoothly, slightly confusing Luke. Arlia kept her mouth clenched shut, all the while glaring at these Imperial soldiers and wishing desperately to take out her anger on them. Every time she saw them, it made her feel guilty and one day someone would figure it out.

"Let me see your identification."

Luke fumbled to search for it but was rescued by Obi-Wan as Arlia knew he would.

"You don't need to see his identification." Ben waved his hand.

"We don't need to see his identification," the trooper repeated to his fellow soldiers.

"These aren't the droids you're looking for."

"These aren't the droids we're looking for."

"He can go about his business."

"You can go about your business."

"Move along."

"Move along. Move along." The stormtrooper let them pass and they cruised to the outside of the cantina. A Jawa, this one alive, came up and started touching the speeder.

"I can't abide these Jawas, disgusting creatures." Threepio complained pompously as Luke shooed it away.

"I can't understand how we got by those troopers. I thought we were dead. Didn't you?" He turned to Arlia who was like a deer in the headlights, fumbling for an answer.

"I, uh, I," she stuttered, " I wasn't too worried. I trusted Ben." Inside her head she shouted ' _Blast_!' having uttered a name she shouldn't have know and looked fearfully at Obi-Wan.

He took note of what she was afraid he would notice but to her surprise, didn't mention it, having decided to touch on it later. Instead, he spoke to Luke saying:

"The force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded. You will find it a powerful ally."

"Do you really think we're going to find a pilot here that'll take us to Alderaan."

The pair paused in front of the cantina, Arlia trailing behind.

"Well, most of the best freighter pilots can be found here. Only watch you step. This place can be a little rough." Obi-Wan warned.

"I'm ready for anything." Luke said, entering the building. Arlia almost laughed. _He has no idea what he's getting into_ , she thought. Then again, neither did she.

"Come along R2." said C-3PO. Alongside the two droids, she went inside but was surprised when someone shouted:

"We don't serve their kind here!"

It was the bartender, a rather large, rough-looking man. All around him were aliens of all different types, some with claws, fur, one-eyed, scales, tentacles, some even slimy. Each of them were huddled over their drink, minding their own business of quietly conversing with someone as the familiar Cantina music played in the background.

"What?" Luke had also been pulled from gazing around the cantina.

"Your droids. They'll have to wait outside. We don't want them here."

Luke tapped Threepio. "You better wait outside. We don't want any trouble."

"I heartily agree with you sir." C-3PO said. "Come along R2." His smaller counterpart gave a few words in binary before shuffling out of the cantina.

Arlia stood near the door, too confused about whether to join Luke and Obi-Wan at the bar or go outside with the droids. _But what if I mess things up?_ The thought persisted in her mind.

Clearly her brain couldn't reach a compromise so left her standing in the middle of the cantina. She was jostled aside by some menacing creature, growling at her as it exited. Mumbling apologies, she moved away, only to bump into another figure.

"Oh, for goodness sake." she said in frustration, hoping this person wouldn't murder her.

"You watch where you're going." At least this person was human and gazing up at this tall man with slightly poofy brown hair, she could see it was none other than Han Solo! She shouldn't have been surprised, this was obviously where he would be.

"I'm sorry." Arlia tried to leave, eager not to disrupt things.

Han Solo intended to threaten this person, it had been a lousy few days, Jabba the Hutt on his tail about some debt that clearly wasn't his fault but he stopped short. He gripped this girl's sleeve, pulling her back.

"Now where do you think you're going sweetheart?" He wouldn't have expected someone like her to be in this sort of establishment, a cute freckle-faced, blonde-haired kid.

"I said sorry. What more do you want?" Arlia had always laughed at how Leia constantly bickered with Han but maybe now she could understand why.

"What's a young pretty thing like you doing in this sort of place?" He gestured around at the general sleaziness before wiggling her chin, causing her to recoil.

 _Is he, hitting on me?_ Her disbelief was squashed when she thought, _'That's Han Solo for you._ ' Arlia went on the offensive.

"I'm 18, hardly a baby. And don't you know better than to ask someone in a cantina what they're doing?" She raised her eyebrows.

Engrossed in their conversation, the pair barely noticed the commotion, only being stopped by the sight of Luke being pushed to the ground, knocking over some objects and landing at their feet.

"Luke!" Arlia knelt beside him as Obi-Wan pulled out his lightsaber. She didn't have time to be fascinated by it, for in a few seconds, it was used to chop off some hideous alien's arm and then hidden away. Han Solo watched this occur and took off once he saw the innocent yet slightly argumentative girl go to the side of an equally innocent boy. _Not my territory_ , he thought, returning to his table.

The creatures in the cantina quickly resumed to minding their own business though edging further away from the group as Arlia and Obi-Wan picked Luke up off the floor.

"This is Chewbacca," said Ben, gesturing to the huge, furry figure that Arlia had always longed to hug when watching the movies. "He's first mate on a ship that might suit our needs."

They followed the Wookiee over to the table where Han Solo sat. His eyes widened as he recognised several members of the group whom Chewie told him needed his help.

"You!" he spat at the girl as she looked away. This was an important part of the movie and Arlia was determined not to jeopardize it. Any 'issue' she had with Han was not going to mess it up.

Luke looked between the pair. "Do you two know each other?" He was frowning.

Arlia said "No" as Han said "Yes". It only served to further embarrass Arlia, annoy Han and worry Luke.

"We... bumped into each other," said Arlia by way of explanation. "Don't we have more pressing matters to deal with?" Slowly, attention turned away from all eyes on her, back to normal. Being the center of attention was distressing, Arlia was feeling flushed and her palms were sweating.

"Han Solo," said the smuggler, still switching his gaze from Arlia, who stared sheepishly down and Luke, his face cleared of any glimmer of excitement. "I'm captain of the Millennium Falcon. Chewie here tells me you're looking for passage to the Alderaan system."

Ben leaned forward. "Yes indeed, if it's a fast ship."

"Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon."

"Should I have?"

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs."

Arlia almost snorted at his boasting and judging by the looks Obi-Wan and Luke gave each other, it was an unbelievable claim. Han saw their skepticism.

"I've outrun Imperial starships. Not the local bulk cruisers, mind you. I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now. She's fast enough for you old man. What's the cargo?"

"Only passengers. Myself, the boy, Arlia, two droids and no questions asked."

The so-called 'scoundrel' smiled. "What is it? Some kind of local trouble?"

"Let's just say we'd like to avoid any Imperial entanglements."

"Well, that's the real trick of it." Arlia could feel her counterparts tensing upon hearing those words. "And it's gonna cost you somethin' extra. Ten thousand all in advance."

A small voice in Arlia's head asked _Ten thousand of what?_ It was clearly a lot judging by Luke's reaction.

"Ten thousand! We could almost buy our own ship for that," he exclaimed.

"But who's gonna fly it kid? You?" Han challenged the boy whose pride made him rise to it.

"You bet I could, I'm not such a bad pilot myself. We don't have to sit here and listen to-"

Ben raised a hand of caution that silenced the impatient lad, giving a more measured response.

"We can pay you two thousand now, plus, fifteen when we reach Alderaan." Only Obi-Wan and Arlia kept straight faces as the other two were shocked at the amount.

Han vocalised his astonishment. "Fifteen?" His thoughts turned to Jabba which helped him make a decision. "Okay, you guys got yourselves a ship. We'll leave as soon as you're ready. Docking bay 94."

"Ninety-four," the old man repeated.

"Looks like someone is beginning to take an interest in your handiwork." His eye had been caught by the sight of some stormtroopers speaking to the bartender as he pointed in their direction.

Luke looked in alarm at Ben who said, "The back door." They made a swift exit.

Arlia had tuned out of the predictable conversation and only just registered her companions departure when Han said : "You goin' or what?"

She was pulled out of her daze just in time to see Luke and Obi-Wan leave.

"Don't move," hissed Han as Arlia started to go after them.

"What?"

"Stormtroopers."

"They'll recognise me," she whispered fearfully.

"Just act natural." Inside Han was thinking: _not so innocent now huh?_

The troopers advanced, one digging his blaster into her back. She shifted uncomfortably, gazing desperately at Han.

"Who's this young lady?" asked one.

Taking pity on Arlia, he spoke."She's my girl and I'll thank you to keep your hands off her." Chewie growled menacingly and the stormtroopers backed away, surprised. Arlia held her breath for the few seconds it took for the troopers to leave entirely, exhaling in relief.

Meanwhile, Han and Chewie stood up, the former clapping his first mate on the back. "17 000! Those guys must really be desperate." Arlia interrupted their jubilation.

"My girl?" She put air quotes around the words.

"I just saved your life. Don't worry, I won't tell your boyfriend."

"I don't have a boyfriend." Arlia couldn't fathom what he meant.

"Oh okay," he retorted sarcastically, "and who's that guy who looked pretty darn upset when he thought we knew each other."

"Luke?" She couldn't believe him. "I've only known him for two days. We're definitely not a thing. At the most friends. Don't you think a boy and girl can be friends?"

"I think they can, it's just not true in your case." Arlia was prepared to continue the out of character (on her part) argument but was stopped by an exasperated Han. "Chewie, get to the falcon, get it ready. And take little miss argumentative with you."

She threw up her hands in defeat but followed Chewbacca out of the cantina and to Docking Bay 94. At Mos Eisley, there were many twists and turns and Arlia got the impression that the Millennium Falcon was hidden away due to its use for smuggling.

As they got closer to the ship, Chewie raised his bowcaster in attack position. Peering around the entrance, he suddenly pulled back, taking Arlia with him.

"What, what is it?" She felt the need to whisper. The Wookiee grunted and let her have a peek around the doorway into the hanger.

A huge, grotesque slug-looking creature, by the name of Jabba the Hutt was near the entrance to the Millennium Falcon, having had it surrounded by his steady array of henchmen and bounty hunters. Each of them had their weapons drawn and among them, Arlia spotted Boba Fett.

"Jabba!" she breathed to which the Wookiee gave a response in whatever language he spoke. "I'm really sorry but I can't understand anything you say."

She felt sorry for Chewbacca, who as far as she could remember, was only understood by Han. Thankfully, the aforementioned translator arrived behind them.

"What is it Chewie?" Frantically, his first mate explained the situation.

Han nodded. "Chewie, get behind me. And, what's your name?"

"Arlia," she filled him in.

"Well, Arlia, once I start talking to Jabba, you get yourself into the Falcon, keep your head down and your blaster ready."

For once, the girl didn't argue, having recognised Han knew what he was doing. Their cue to put the plan into action came not from Han, but from the Hutt himself. He called out something, Arlia only just catching the word 'Han'. It didn't matter, she knew the gist of what he was saying, it was along the lines of 'Come out!'

The aforementioned smuggler gave a swift nod of the head to indicate 'go'.

"Right here Jabba! You didn't think I was going to run did you?"

Arlia followed Han's instructions to the letter, moving swiftly by the bounty hunters who eyed her suspiciously. Her blaster was out of sight, covered by her jacket but was within easy reach. It was unnecessary as she made it safely inside the Millennium Falcon.

It was so tempting for Arlia to sneak a closer look at Boba Fett and even the hideous Jabba but instead she had a small look around the spaceship. The cockpit was first and she brushed her fingers lightly along the various buttons, levers and controls on the dashboard as well as along the iconic seats.

It made her squeal internally for the whole thing was still surreal, she had to keep pinching herself. Further exploring the Falcon, she saw many things that seemed familiar yet strange. The ladders that lead up or down to the two laser cannons were off to one side but Arlia did not climb them, rambling onward through it's corridors. Finally, she reached a room that had a checkered round table in which you could play a game, the name of which Arlia could not recall.

She searched around for something to turn it on, a button or something. Han Solo, having finally talked his way out of a confrontation with Jabba, entered with Chewbacca.

"Arlia!" he called then spotted her. "Trying to play Dejarik, are we?"

She snapped her fingers in realisation. "Dejarik, that's what it's called. For the life of me I couldn't remember."

"Do you know how to play?" Han asked.

"No." In her head she thought _Am I supposed to?_

"Why don't you just play around with it? Chewie and I have to get the Falcon ready. I sure hope your friends arrive soon." He left her to her own devices.

Arlia finally found the button that turned on the game and just started pressing switches until something happened. Every so often, she could hear Han and the Wookiee go past, busy with their various duties.

She didn't know how long she sat there for, fiddling with the Dejarik game but suddenly heard blaster fire coming from outside the ship. In a forgetful panic, she leaped up and came around the corner, only to crash into Luke. He caught her by the shoulders.

"Arlia!" He exclaimed. "You're alright. What happened?"

She had no time to give a breathless response, at that moment, Han Solo came charging past shouting, "Chewie, get us out of here!"

It was with delight Arlia saw Luke, followed by Obi-Wan, Threepio and R2. She followed them as they sat around the Dejarik table and strapped themselves in. Through the window, she could see stormtroopers firing at them from the ground. It did nothing to dampen her mood. _My first space travel_ , she thought happily as the Millennium Falcon took off under a hail of red blaster fire.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I don't own Star Wars. Only Arlia is mine.**

 **This chapter was a pain to write. Not as action-packed or exiting as the other two but still some cool stuff about the force. Enjoy!**

Arlia was pinned to the seat, unsure if she was enjoying the experience of flying in the Millennium Falcon or was actually terrified. The spaceship creaking and shuddering hardly helped her nerves, the grimace on her face slowly growing.

"Are you alright?" Luke tapped the girl on the arm, having noticed her discomfort.

"I'm fine." Arlia made a considerable effort to look calm but in reality, she agreed more with the grumbled sentiments of Threepio, the droid complaining about his loathing for space travel.

"Let's go," said Ben, motioning for Luke to follow.

"You coming?" he asked Arlia as he stood up. She shook her head.

"I'll just keep out of everyone's way.

"You're not a pr-, I mean, you don't, um. You know what, it doesn't matter." Luke stumbled over his words and left with the old man, rushing to the cockpit.

Looking out the window, Arlia stared in awe at the vast expanse of the galaxy, filled with countless stars and planets twinkling at her. Then, just as she was admiring the breath-taking view, an immense Star Destroyer came into sight. It sent a shiver of fear down her spine, it looked so enormous and spelled doom. Arlia suddenly felt grateful she knew the outcome, it served to put her mind at ease. The Millennium Falcon shook violently, sending her into the wall.

"Aah," she gave a small squeal, tottering along the corridors as she thudded into them. No sooner had Arlia arrived at the cockpit, she was being dragged back, Han shouting:

"I'm going to make the jump to light speed!"

Luke and Obi-Wan buckled themselves in, the former helping Arlia who felt like such an idiot when she couldn't figure out this simple piece of technology. She didn't have time to be embarrassed, just as the belt was clicked into place, so they were squished against their seats as the Millennium Falcon launched into light speed. It was bizarre, like an invisible force was pushing against her chest. Arlia wasn't normally a person who suffered from claustrophobia but she started to breathe heavily and twist around as if trapped. When the ship was safely in hyperspace and the shaking had stopped, her relief caused her to exhale loudly. She completely missed Luke gazing at her quizzically, puzzled by her unusual behavior.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just haven't been in space before."

"What are you talking about? How else would you get from your planet to Tatooine?"

"I told you, didn't I? I don't know!" Arlia was annoyed, his tone was accusatory.

"I'm sorry." He was silent for a moment. "What's your home planet like?"

"Well, first of all, hardly anyone goes into space. The only place outside Earth they've ever landed is the moon."

"'The' moon."

"We only have one and since there isn't life on the other planets near us, we call it 'the' moon."

Luke nodded in a sort of way that didn't convey complete understanding at what she was saying. Obi-Wan took his attention away from Arlia.

"You should begin you training," he said to Luke.

"Training?"

"I said I would teach you the ways of the force."

"How?" Luke sat up, excited. It only took a few moments for Ben to set up a seeker robot, it was rather like a little floating Death Star, a grey spherical object hovering about. Luke took out his lightsaber, Arlia paying special attention to the sound of it turning on, a 'vroom' noise. She had another fan girl moment, wishing to shout excitedly 'I'm in Star Wars!' The goofy grin across her face caught Luke's attention.

"What's so funny?" he asked, but was brought back to his task by the seeker robot firing at him, a blast he only just blocked with his lightsaber.

'Pay attention my boy." Obi-Wan wasn't really scolding him, it was said with amusement more than anything. Suddenly, he faltered, collapsing heavily into a nearby chair. Arlia spotted it, at once knowing the reason, even before Luke asked what was wrong.

Ben gave a poetic reply. "I felt a great disturbance in the Force... as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened."

 _Alderaan_ , Arlia thought. Seeing Obi-Wan's disturbed face gave her the same feeling as when she knew Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru couldn't be saved. Her gaze switched to Luke, but he missed the expression on her face, a combination of guilt and sorrow. Instead, the boy went on with his exercises, as instructed by Ben. There still seemed to be an unnerving silence hanging in the atmosphere, even swallowing up the noises of Chewbacca, Threepio and R2 playing Dejarik. Han Solo entered, ending the short moment in which Arlia was off in space, metaphorically speaking, but still, for mere milliseconds she was home. Flashes of green and blue as she stood on a wooden deck. Then, gone, when the smuggler spoke.

"Well, you can forget your troubles with those imperial slugs. I told you I'd outrun 'em." Expecting praise, Han was instead met with a cool silence, everyone else occupied with their own activities.

"Don't everyone thank me at one," he muttered, disgruntled, then went on to inform the group they'd arrive on Alderaan at oh-two-hundred hours.

Chewbacca began expressing his displeasure at losing a game of Dejarik. Han Solo sticking up for the Wookiee as his opponents, C-3PO and R2-D2 were coerced into letting Chewie win future games. Arlia saw none of it, watching with fascination as Obi-Wan instructed Luke how to use the Force to guide him instead of his eyes.

Han Solo turned his attention to them, saying almost mockingly, "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side."

"You don't believe in the Force, do you?" Luke called him out on his blatant skepticism.

"Kid, I've flown from one side of the galaxy to the other, I've seen a lot of strange things, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all powerful force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny." It was a challenge, Ben giving a quiet smile that reeked with smugness. Arlia knew what was coming next, Obi-Wan putting a helmet on Luke and telling him to try again.

"This time, let go your conscious self and act on instinct."

"With the blast shield down, I can't even see. How am I supposed to fight?" Luke was nearly laughing with disbelief.

"Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them." This command from the Jedi caused Han to shake his head to shake his head whilst glancing at Arlia, as if denoting what lost causes they were. But the girl ignored it, willing Luke to succeed.

Ben launched the seeker into the air and the boy swung out blindly, trying to hit it, though failing miserably, the robot instead hitting him with the laser. His shout of pain made Arlia wince but she bit her lip. Trying to stay out of things was exhausting, just sitting around not speaking would surely look odd to everyone else.

"Stretch out with your feelings," urged Obi-wan. Arlia could sense Luke doing as commanded as he let the force guide him. The same strange emotion she felt when she could almost see home was there again and Arlia was delighted to see Luke deflect the bolt from the seeker whilst blindfolded.

"Well done!" She clapped her hands together in delight as Luke took the helmet off. Han rolled his eyes but Obi-Wan encouraged the boy.

"You see, you can do it," he said.

"I call it luck," rebuffed the smuggler.

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck," warned Ben.

"Look, going good against remotes is one thing. Good against the living? That's something else." Yet again, he was met with silence from the others and decided to try and get a rise out of the girl who'd barely said a word.

"What about you Arlia? You believe in all this mumbo-jumbo?"

She was caught off guard. "I, uh, yeah. I bel-" To her relief, Han noticed a light flashing and took attention away from her.

"Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan." He and Chwebacca left, returning to the cockpit. Arlia sat, lost in her own thoughts, wondering about the Force and the vision she'd had. _Was it a vision?_ She was confused and only brought out of her puzzlement by Luke.

"Hey, you alright? You look.. concerned." He was beside her.

"No, I'm okay, I just.." she paused then turned to Ben. "I saw home. There was green and blue and I was standing at my house."

The Jedi considered it for a moment. "Did you see this just then?" She nodded.

"I think, Miss Rider, we should make arrangements for some testing to begin."

Luke stared animatedly at the old man. "You mean, she's force sensitive."

"Perhaps."

"We could train together!" He squeezed her hand gleefully but she hardly registered it. "You don't look that happy."

"I just, don't know what to think. Is the Force the reason why I'm here?"

"That may be so," said Obi-Wan.

"Then the Force is the only way I can go back," she said quietly.

"You want to leave?" Luke asked.

"My family. They're back home. I don't belong here." Arlia suddenly realised how homesick she really was, longing etched in her shaky voice.

"You do belong here," Luke said earnestly. "Look what you did to those stormtroopers. For someone who's never handled a blaster before in their life, you did pretty damn well."

She smiled. "I guess whether I stay or not is up to the Force. But I'm not going anywhere, for now." Luke gave a grin of relief in return.

"Tell me more about Earth, Arlia." She was quite ready to do so, the word 'well' on the tip of her tongue.

"I think we should go join the others in the cockpit," interrupted Ben. He went ahead, leaving Luke and Arlia behind.

"Thanks," she told him.

"For what?"

"Pretending to be interested in my home."

"Who says I'm pretending?"

"Fair point," she conceded.

"C'mon." The pair began going in the direction Obi-Wan just had but were shaken as the Millennium Falcon seemed to be pelted with objects, wobbling it around. "That doesn't sound good." They quickened their pace and burst into the cramped cockpit behind Han, Chewie and Ben.

"What's going on?" cried Luke.

"Our position is correct, except.. no Alderaan," Han explained.

"Oh no," Arlia whispered in horror, remembering what had happened. She somehow felt responsible for the planet's destruction. As Luke started to panic, Han grew exasperated and Obi-Wan suggested why Alderaan was not where it should be, Arlia tried to reason through her guilty feelings. _Could I have stopped it? No. Is this like what happened with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru? No. Then snap out of it! You can only be guilty about one thing at a time. Let's not get too carried away._

"Destroyed, by the Empire." Ben solemn pronouncement was the next thing the girl heard.

"The entire starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet," Han said quickly. "It'd take a thousand ships with more firepower than I've..." He was stopped by the flashing of a signal on the control panel, accompanied by a hushed alarm. "There's another ship coming in."

Arlia knew at once where it was from and what would happened next. It was a TIE fighter and were it was headed was more terrifying then she could have imagined. As the others tossed up possibilities about where it had come from, Arlia was more concerned with the ship's destination.

Finally, when Han said, " Well, he ain't gonna be around long enough to tell anyone about us," it came into range. The Falcon gained and so Luke commented:

"Look at him, He's headed for that small moon."

Not a small moon, she thought, the Death Star. A few moments later, Obi-Wan guessed correctly.

"That's no moon. It's a space station."

"It's too big to be a space station," Han shook off the suggestion but increasing uncertainty laced his voice.

"It is a space station." Arlia urged them to believe Ben. It wouldn't do them any good when they found out for sure.

"What makes you so sure?" countered the smuggler but Arlia didn't have to reply.

"I have a very bad feeling about this," said Luke, his voice betraying his fear. The other occupants all felt the same ominous atmosphere.

"Yeah, I think you're right." Han finally acted on his uneasy emotions. "Full reverse! Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power." The Wookiee did so but no such back-tracking occurred. The Millennium Falcon shuddered horribly, allowing the TIE fighter to accelerate towards the threateningly huge battle station.

"Why are we still moving towards it?" asked Luke. And indeed they were, only adding to the panic felt by all except Arlia. She listened to their alarmed shouts.

"We're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!" Han yelled.

"But there's gotta be something you can do!" Luke was very slightly approaching hysteria. _Not helping_ , thought Arlia and clearly Han agreed.

"There's nothing I can do about it, kid. I'm in full power. I'm going to have to shut down. But they're not going to get me without a fight!"

It was a times like these Arlia was very thankful they had wise old Obi-Wan tagging along to be the voice of reason. He didn't know the events to come as well as she did but being a force user meant he had good instincts. The Jedi had been around many more years than his previous companions and was far wiser. These were the reasons his response to Han's plan of fighting his way out was:

'You can't win. But there are alternatives to fighting."

Han thought for a few seconds as the ship edged closer and closer to the Death Star.

"We have to hide," suggested Arlia, eager to move things along. That little light bulb in Han's brain switched on.

"Chewie the compartments." The Wookiee growled and stood up, leading Ben, Luke and the two droids.

"What are you doing?" Arlia asked Han who was pressing various buttons and selecting options in a language she didn't understand.

"Just makin' extra sure they don't think anyone's on board. According to the log, we abandoned the ship soon after take-off. C'mon." He made the final adjustment and the pair rushed to where R2 and Threepio were being lowered into a hole beneath the floor. Obi-Wan then stepped down into another leaving just one to be shared between four. Arlia peered doubtfully at the space, Luke, Chewie and lastly Han clambering down.

"What are you waiting for, sweetheart?" Han extended a hand to help her but she nudged it away, lowering herself into the smuggling compartment. Eventually, she found herself wedged up against Han, her feet resting on Luke's lap, Chewie in the middle. They sat there and waited as the Millennium Falcon was drawn into the depths of the Death Star, rocking ever so slightly, with it's occupants hidden beneath the floor panels.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I don't own Star Wars. Only Arlia is mine.**

Arlia was crammed in a compartment underneath the floor panels of the Millennium Falcon, uncomfortably wedged against Han, Luke and Chewie. Several units of stormtroopers had been up and down the spaceships corridors, searching for any signs of the crew. Finally, the last trooper exited.

"Let's go," whispered Han, he and Luke lifting up the panel, Obi-Wan doing the same to his.

"Boy, it's lucky you had these compartments," commented Luke.

"Even if they are cramped," muttered Arlia, complaining about the awkwardness of having to sit on top of three different guys, even if one was a Wookiee.

"Hey, I uses them for smuggling," said Han defensively, having caught her remark. "I never thought I'd be smuggling myself in them." Gazing around the Falcon, it seemed hopeless and he vented his frustration. "This is ridiculous! Even if I could take off, I'd never get past the tractor beam."

"Leave that to me," Ben told him.

"Damn fool. I knew you were going to say that!"

Once again, Obi-Wan got the last word. "Who's more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?" Arlia snickered at the dig as Han shook his head, muttering things in which Chewie expressed his agreement of.

"Don't you start!" Han told Arlia, annoyed at her amusement. "C'mon." He and Chewie stood by the entrance to the Falcon, with their blaster and bowcaster, respectively, at the ready. Obi-Wan, Luke and Arlia lifted out the droids, Threepio complaining of the considerable discomfort his metal body was subjected to.

"Shh," she said. Two men carrying a large object in the shape of a rectangular prism entered, Han and Chewie making quick work of knocking them out as silently as possible. It was quiet but the box dropping was enough to catch the attention of the two stormtroopers guarding the entrance ramp.

"Hey down there," called Luke, "could you give us a hand with this?" He lured the troopers into he Falcon, the droids, Obi-Wan and Arlia stayed out of sight whilst Luke, Han and Chewie ambushed the soldiers, taking them out with blaster fire.

"What do we do now?" asked Luke as they stood over the dead bodies. Ben appeared.

"You two," he nodded towards Han and Luke. "Change into their uniforms." For once, Han didn't express any displeasure at following this order, having realised what the old man had in mind. The pair dragged the troopers into the cockpit, hurriedly changing.

Luke started walking around in the armour. "How do you do anything?" he lamented how restrictive it was.

"Well old man," Han addressed Obi-Wan, "since you're the brains of this suicide mission, what's our next move?"

Ignoring the jab at his age, Ben went on with the plan. "We have to get to a command centre and get the doors open." There was silence whilst he thought. "Luke, you have a broken comlink." The group peered up through the interior of the Death Star, spotting a room in which several officers sat at the objects rather like old computers that flashed with lights.

All except Luke followed Han and Chewie up to the command centre. Arlia really didn't want to leave Luke behind, it made her nervous and she glanced back at his as the group ran along, Threepio and Artoo trailing as usual. An officer opened the door, Chewie tossing him aside like a rag doll, he and Han blasting the others in the command centre. Arlia was beginning to tire of sheltering behind people who knew what they were doing. She made a mental note that as soon as she was away from the action, she would get some combat training.

The others spread around the room. Arlia noted the officer Chewie had taken out and remembered something her dad had told her about the actor who'd played him. He was Australian, like her, His name being Peter Sumner. He was broke in England when he was paid 200 pounds for the role in Star Wars. Shame his character is dead, she thought. When Arlia had finished dwelling on the fact, Luke entered, irritated.

"You know, between his howling and your blasting everything in sight, it's a wonder the whole station doesn't know we're here."

"Bring them on!" retorted Han. "I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around."

"We're still alive aren't we?" Arlia was getting fed up with his attitude but the conversation that may have turned into an argument was disrupted by Threepio.

"We found the computer outlet, sir." Obi-Wan went over to them, inspecting a map, presumably of the Death Star. Realising something, Artoo let out a quick succession of beeps and whistles, Ben noticing it.

"Plug in," he said. "He should be able to interpret the entire Imperial computer network." Eventually the Jedi and the two droids managed to locate a power terminal where the tractor beam can be turned off. Obi-Wan worked out the route to the nearest terminal and started to leave, addressing Arlia, Luke and Han.

"I don't think you can help. I must go alone."

Arlia understood with a chill that Obi-Wan would never return. She froze, her eyes glazing over with tears.

"Whatever you say. I've done more than I bargained for on this trip already." Han, like the others, was oblivious to her sense of dread.

"I want to go with you," said Luke, standing determined in front of Ben.

"Luke," Arlia tried to stop him from trying but he only looked at her for a moment, turning back to Obi-Wan.

"Be patient Luke," Ben told him. "Stay and watch over the droids."

"But he can..."

"They must delivered safely or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan. Your destiny lies along a different path than mine. The Force will be with you... always!" And Obi-Wan lingered for the smallest of moments, but enough for Arlia to give him a nod signalling a goodbye mixed with respect. All of a sudden, she knew he was aware of her future knowledge,of all she could tell the others. But that would be dangerous and she would never do that. All this was conveyed and Obi-Wan took off down the hallway, quickly disappearing out of sight, robes flapping. There was silence, then Chewbacca barked a comment that his friend was concurred with.

"Boy, you said it Chewie," Han agreed, looking at Luke who was still gazing down the corridor. "Where did you dig up that old fossil?"

"Obi-Wan's not a fossil," Arlia found herself defending him.

"Ben's a great man," Luke added.

"Yeah, great at getting us into trouble." Han wasn't convinced.

"I didn't hear you give any ideas," retaliated Luke. In her head, Arlia was cheering on the boy.

"Well, anything would be better than just hanging around for him to pick us up."

"Maybe you'd prefer to be dead." She called him out on his hypocrisy. The disagreement could have raged on, especially without Ben to stop them. Thankfully, they could also count on the droids to do the job, Artoo whistling loudly.

"What is it?" Luke went over.

"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, sir. He says 'I've found her' and keeps repeating 'she's here'." Threepio translated.

"Well, who... who has he found?"

Arlia knew the answer before Luke asked. Quite by accident, she spoke out loud, saying "Princess Leia". Artoo beeped and Threepio looked surprised.

"She is here," confirmed the golden-coloured robot.

'The Princess? She's here?" Luke questioned the strangeness of Arlia knowing that. "How did you know?"

"I-I... guessed," she stammered.

"Princess? What's going on?" Han was ignored.

"Where is she?" Arlia was eager to move on from her slip of the tongue.

"Level five," said C-3PO. "Detention block A A-Twenty-Three. I'm afraid she's scheduled to be terminated."

"Oh no! We've got to do something." Luke looked to Arlia for agreement and she nodded to indicate it.

"What are you talking?" The smuggler raised his voice to be heard. Arlia then Luke explained things.

"They're her droids."

"She's the one in the message. We've got to help her."

"Now look," Han held up his hands in an attempt to get them to slow down. "Don't get any funny ideas. The old man wants us to wait right here."

"But he didn't know she was here," Luke turned back to the droids. "Look, can you find a way into the detention block?"

"I'm not going anywhere," said Han stubbornly. While Luke worked with Threepio and Artoo to find directions into the detention block, Arlia took the opportunity to appeal to the smuggler's humanity.

"They're going to execute her," she was almost pleading. "Didn't you say you hated waiting to be captured? Now all you want to do is stay!" Arlia was sick of trying to keep her mouth shut for fear of ruining things. Whatever the reason was for the Force to bring her here she could figure out later. Now, she wasn't going to be silent. Han noticed the evident change in behavior.

"She speaks!" He feigned shock.

"Well?" she demanded a response.

"Look, marching into the detention centre is not what I had in mind."

"But they're gonna kill her!" Luke was back.

"Better her than me."

The boy looked away in despair. Arlia waited for him to go on with the next bit of persuading but it didn't come when she thought it would. In fact, it seemed to delay and, worried it might not happen, went on with it herself.

"Han, she's rich."

Luke's eyes lit up when he understood what the girl was doing. It succeeded, Chewie grunting and Han suddenly appearing alert.

"Rich?" he asked.

"Yes, rich, powerful!" Luke hurriedly carried on what Arlia had begun. "Listen, if you were to rescue her, the reward would be..." His voice did away as he struggled to come up with a figure.

"What?" The smuggler was still interested, it made Arlia smile to see how easily his attention was captured at the mention of money.

"More wealth than you can imagine."

"I don't know, I can imagine quite a bit."

"You'll get it," Luke insisted.

"I better."

"You will."

Han was finally convinced or at least goaded into tagging along. "Alright kid. But you'd better be right about this." He glanced as the Wookiee for confirmation, but received only a growl that seemed to say 'whatever'.

"Alright." Luke smiled triumphantly at Arlia who returned it. The tactic had worked and she was relieved her impulsive actions hadn't messed things up.

"What's you plan?" Han asked.

"Uh," Luke thought for a moment, glancing at Arlia for an idea but she just shrugged, to caught up in what was going on to recall the course of action taken. Then, the boy spoke.

"Threepio, hand me those binders there will you." The droid did so dutifully and had them snatched, Luke moving towards Chewbacca. "Okay. Now, I'm going to put these on you." Chewie growled ferociously so that Luke instantly recoiled. "Okay. Han, you put these on."

Both Han and Arlia were silently laughing at Luke, the former scornfully, the latter good-naturedly. The smuggler stood up.

"Don't worry Chewie. I think I know what he has in mind." He but the binders on the Wookiee who, despite reassurance, seemed worried. Han, Luke and Chewie started heading for the door.

"So, I guess I'm staying here with the droids," Arlia said loudly.

"Sorry Arlia," apologised Luke, "there's, um, it's easier..." He slowly ceased speaking, knowing that whatever he could say would come out offending her.

"Look," interjected Han, "what the kid is trying to say is that you..." The smuggler also stopped, as tough as he tried to be, even he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"No, it's fine. I get it." She felt completely redundant but C-3PO didn't notice the three humans subdued manner.

"Master Luke, sir! Pardon me for asking, but, ah... What should we do if we're discovered here?"

"Lock the door," the aforementioned 'Master' Luke replied.

"And hope they don't have blasters," added Han.

"That isn't very reassuring," lamented Threepio. Luke and Han out on their stormtrooper helmets and Arlia watched them lead Chewie off into the hallways of the Death Star. _They sure as hell better come back,_ she thought.

Arlia sat back in one of the chairs, slumped on one of the monitors spread around the control centre.

"I don't know why they were joking Artoo," grumbled Threepio to his small companion. "Our lives are no laughing matter." The blue droid gave a bleeping reply, something offensive judging from the response.

"How dare you say that?" exclaimed the golden-coloured robot.

"Don't worry Threepio," said Arlia wearily. "I have a blaster. They seem to have forgotten that." She patted her side where the weapon sat in her holster.

"Well," he said, "that does make me feel slightly better."

"I'd feel better if we could contact the others," she pounded a fist of frustration on the table.

"But Mistress Arlia, we can!" He raised his metal hand, in it was a small, white, tubular object.

"What is it?" she said, squinting at it.

"A comlink. Master Luke has the other."

She sprang up. "How on earth could I have forgotten? Why didn't you tell me?"

"But I just did!" C-3PO honestly didn't understand humans, they could be so illogical.

"Never mind," she shook her head. "Do you mind if I hang onto it?" It was happily passed along and Arlia examined to closely. As well as being white, now she could take a much closer look at it, she could see part of it was black. There was a microphone at one end and a button she assumed allowed you to speak.

"So I just press this button to talk to Luke?" she asked.

"Of course. I would have thought you knew that," he replied, surprised.

Arlia lowered her eyes in shame. "Try to keep up Threepio. I think it has already been established that I'm useless."

"Well in that case," C-3PO wittered on, "there's a small switch that you can use to mute it. It might be necessary if we have to hide."

"Yes," she nodded, lifting up the part of her jacket hanging over the blaster which she palmed, examining the weapon.

"Mistress Arlia, are you sure you can use that?" Threepio stepped forward, anxious.

"I've killed several stormtroopers with it. I mean, I'd never used one before than but I sure did manage some impressive flukes. I mean, I'm pretty certain they were flukes." She looked thoughtful, wrinkling her nose. "I wonder if it has something to do with the Force. That would explain a lot." Arlia went off on a tangent of her own musings, pondering what else she could put down tot his mysterious energy force although she couldn't come up with anything else other than her luck with the blaster.

She sat back and sighed. "How long has it been since they left?"

"It's only been a few minutes."

Arlia groaned, bored with waiting around. "This is taking forever. What are we supposed to do while we're here?"

Artoo made some comment, perhaps it was about Arlia and it shocked C-3PO. "You can't say that about her!" he cried. She rested her head back on the monitor with a thud, closing her eyes as she lay on her folded arms. Now she thought about it, she was exhausted, it had been and eventful day. _Or was it two days?_ Not owning a watch was disconcerting.

"Mistress Arlia, do you think maybe you could get out your blaster? I'd feel more comfortable if you did."

"Relax Threepio." She slid to the floor, it's smooth surface pleasantly cool though it must have looked odd to the droids who made comments about the state of her mental health. Ignoring them, however, Arlia thought of home. _What would I be doing? Going to school, probably. Boy, I hate that place. I like my friends but it's way to stressful. I miss my family._ The girl remembered her parents and younger brother. _Do I want to stay here? I wonder what happens next._

Suddenly, Arlia was alert and sat up, her legs crossed like she was in primary school. _I think Luke makes contact with us soon._ She swiftly produced the comlink and checked it wasn't muted. Then, she put it to one side and drummed her fingers on the floor. Even though she was expecting it, Arlia still had the living daylights scared out of her when the comlink turned on.

"See-Threepio! See-Threepio!" Luke's voice came crackling through the device and she stood up, taking it in hand.

"It's Arlia! What's wrong?" she said back, being careful to follow C-3PO's instructions on how to use it.

"We've been cut off! Are there any other ways out of the cell bay?"

"You heard him!" she looked desperately to the droids, Artoo bleeping wildly as Threepio translated. She held out the comlink so Luke could listen to what the golden-coloured robot said.

"Did you get that?" she asked, hearing a lot of blaster fire and shouting. A second later, the reply came through.

"What did he say? I didn't copy."

"He said all systems have been alerted to your presence." Arlia repeated. "The main entrance seems to be the only way in or out, all other information on your level is restricted."

There was a bashing at the door. "Open up in there!' called a stormtrooper.

"Oh no!" cried Threepio.

"Luke?" Arlia whispered desperately into the comlink but nothing came through.

"What do we do?" asked the protocol droid in a panic, even Artoo's beeps becoming frantic. Arlia spun around, recalling how in the film, the droids hid in a supply cabinet. _But what about me?_

"Quick, open this!" she pointed tot he small door. Threepio pressed a nearby button. "Now,I'll go in first, followed by Artoo, then you." She took out her blaster and backed into the cabinet, squished behind R2-D2.

"Okay, Threepio," she whispered, when the door was closed. "When they open the door, pretend we got locked in here by intruders. Say they went to the detention level. They, if they leave anyone behind, ask to take Artoo to maintenance. I'll hide behind him until the last second and then there may be a little blaster fire."

"What about Master Luke?"

"Damn!" She almost face-palmed when she remembered she'd left the comlink on the monitor in her panicked rush. There was no time to retrieve it, there was an explosion and then the stormtroopers entered the command centre.

"Take over!" shouted a trooper. "See to him! Look there!" The door to the supply cabinet flew open and Threepio stepped forward as Arlia stayed down, behind a lingering Artoo.

"They're madmen! They're heading for the prison level! If you hurry, you might catch them."

The stormroopers fell for the rouse. "Follow me! You stand guard." commanded the one that was clearly the ranking officer and the group marched away, leaving one soldier behind.

"Come on," C-3PO said to R2-D2 who began shuffling forward, Arlia behind him, weapon in hand. The golden-coloured robot has a blaster pointed at him as the stormtrooper stopped him. "Oh," he stepped back, concerned. "All this excitement has overrun the circuits of my counterpart here. If you don't mind, I'd like to..."

"He-" The trooper began as Arlia became visible from behind the smaller droid. She wasted not time in firing lasers at him before he could do the same to her. Arlia was astonished at how quickly she disposed of another human, promptly dragging the stormtroopers limp body into the supply cabinet. _Another fluke,_ she thought. With delight, she sprung upon the comlink she had forgetfully left on the monitor, relieved it was still there and in one piece. _If I'd lost it, I don't know what I would have done!_

"Let's go," she told the droids and they finally left the command centre. Arlia was much speedier than the droids but it served to their advantage, for she would, blaster at the ready, go ahead and check the coast was clear. After a couple of minutes of that exercise, the group made it to the service panel in the main hanger, across from the Millennium Falcon, obscured by some boxes. The ship was being guarded by several armed stormtroopers.

"They aren't here!" said Threepio, having observed the same things Arlia did. "Something must have happened to them. See if they've been captured." Something in the girl's brain triggered pain and she began gasping for breath as Artoo spewed binary at C-3PO.

"The comlink!" she half-yelled, half-whispered, swiftly turning on the device. Artoo and Threepio were still trying to gain information from the computer but turned at her cry.

"They haven't been captured!" said the protocol droid urgently. "Ask them where they are."

"Luke! Luke, come in! What's happening?"

"Arlia, never mind. Just shut down all the garbage compactors on the detention level! Now!"

"Do it! Shut them down!" she shouted at the droids, ignoring the fact that if she'd remembered to contact Luke in the first place, he, Han, Chewie and now Leia wouldn't be about to be squashed to death. "Quickly!"

"Oh, hurry Artoo! Shut them all down!" Threepio also joined in as Luke repeated his instruction, groaning every so often. The small blue droid worked as quickly as he could and then, through the comlink, came screaming.

"We weren't fast enough!" C-3PO exclaimed, aghast.

"NO!" Arlia contradicted him. "They have to be alright." She was convincing herself more than anyone, knowing how the story ended didn't matter, any action of hers could disrupt everything. There was more hollering and Threepio cursed his 'metal body for not being fast enough'. To her eternal relief, Arlia was correct about their situation.

"Arlia! Threepio! We're alright!" Luke called, their yelling down to exuberance at having survived. "You guys did great!" Arlia handed the comlink to C-3PO as the boy told them to open the pressure maintenance hatch of the garbage compactor, Artoo obediently following orders.

She edged further away, furious with her faulty memory that seemed to be dominating her nature. Usually, neglecting something on Earth, at it's worst,was putting the keys down when retrieving something from the car then accidentally locking them inside. But here, more than ever, it could result in someone's death. _How do people enjoy living here? I'll be lucky to survive a week and so will everyone else around me. I refuse to be the cause of Luke Skywalker's death!_ In her head, it was meant to be humorous but it just sounded morbid.

"Mistress Arlia! Mistress Arlia!" It was Threepio. "Master Luke is on his way."

"Thank goodness."

"Humans are very good at getting into trouble," C-3PO was fond of talking in a way that seldom required a reply and Arlia was perfectly content in allowing him to do so. "Master Luke, you and Captain Solo appear to have a knack for getting into life or death situation."

She expressed amazement at this. "I would have thought dangerous scenarios are part of the package."

"They are, it's just you three seem to encounter them more often."

"This isn't exactly a normal day for any of us. We're trying to save the galaxy!" Arlia never would have thought a droid could give her an unintentional pep talk but she suddenly felt some of her heavy emotional burdens lifted, knowing everyone else was as kamikaze as her. "So, when will the others get here?"

"Master Luke didn't say." They crouched out of sight, waiting in silence. Then,a noise that, for once, spelled doom. A lightsaber being turned on undoubtedly marking the beginning of the final battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader.

"Come on , Artoo, we're going." It was Threepio, stopping Arlia from trying to peer at the sight. The stormtroopers guarding the Millenenium Falcon suddenly moved away, going towards the fight.

"Go, go!" Arlia encouraged, herding them towards the ship. The two droids were just scurrying up the ramp when, quite by accident, she turned to the side and saw **them**! The girl was filled with unfathomable rage. Darth Vader, a man that so often amused her with his sadistic sense of humor, was about to kill his former master and best friend. _How could you?_ She directed that question at Lord Vader, hoping that maybe, if he was force sensitive, he would hear her. Arlia couldn't tell, she couldn't sense anything and paused with her hatred for suddenly, Luke was beside her, having arrived with Han, Chewie and Leia.

Obi-Wan glanced over at them, spotting Luke then turning back to Darth Vader. And, with a serene look on his face, he removed his weapon from blocking the red lightsaber. The Dark Lord took advantage of it, quickly pulling back his saber and slicing the Jedi in half. Arlia felt her heart squeeze and gasped, hoping that he felt no pain as his body disappeared instantly, leaving his cloak to fall to the floor.

"No!" It was Luke, calling out in anguish, his cry catching the attention of the stormtroopers who began to fore at him. It took him a few seconds to register this but when he finally began to retaliate, Han and Arlia joined in, sending laser bolts that took out a some of the troopers.

"Come on!" Han shouted to Luke who seemed intent on staying.

"Come on Luke! It's to late!" Leia added.

"Blast the door kid!"

Luke fired and Darth Vader was prevented from advancing by the massive door closing. He continued to blast the remaining stormtroopers but Arlia didn't try to tear him away from his 'revenge'. She couldn't hear it but knew when Luke suddenly looked around, it was Ben's force ghost encouraging him to run. Arlia was already at the top of the ramp and as soon as Luke reached her, she gripped his arm and pulled him inside.

"Go Han!" she shouted to the smuggler who took it as a sign he could take off, closing the door. She and Luke toppled against the walls of the Falcon as it, thankfully, surged out of the hanger of the Death Star and into space, yet again under blaster. _I swear, the Millennium Falcon never takes off under normal circumstances,_ thought Arlia with a smile.

 **A/N: I may have some difficulty doing updates as it is that time of term in which all the teachers give you assignments. I have to focus om those but I will try to update as often as possible :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This chapter took forever and it's longer than the others. I'm really happy with it and there is some Luke/Arlia moments. Enjoy!**

 **I don't own Star Wars.**

Arlia and Luke assisted each other in making it to the dejarik table, slumping into the seats across from Threepio and Artoo. She had her arm wrapped around him in solace. The girl didn't consider herself very good at comforting people but Luke was grateful for it nonetheless.

"I can't believe he's gone," Luke's voice was hollow.

"l know," Arlia rested her head against his. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She felt for him but hadn't anticipated how upset she was herself at Ben's death. They sat in silence, barely registering Leia dropping a blanket over them.

"There's nothing you could have done," said the Princess. Arlia thought to object, with her future knowledge, she might have been able to stop it. But somehow, Obi-Wan probably would have managed to sacrifice himself so they could escape. A confrontation with Darth Vader was unavoidable and Luke would never have left without Ben.

Arlia just wanted to stay put, side by side with Luke but Han came rushing past.

"Come on, buddy, we're not out of this yet!"

Luke got up and followed him to the he gunports, Han climbing to the top, the boy to the lower one. Arlia followed Leia to the cockpit where Chewie sat in his copilot chair.

"What is it?" the girl asked.

"TIE fighters, four of them," the Princess told her.

"Oh." She quickly sat in her chair behind Chewie, the Wookiee and Leia gazing intently out of the window, searching for enemy ships. The Millennium Falcon bounced around, it was disconcerting for Leia but Arlia had grown used to the ship's near constant rocking.

"Here they come!" Leia called down the intercom. Two of the TIE fighters came around to attack firing at the ship.

"Oooh," Threepio shouted. Arlia climbed out of the chair, barely managing to stand.

"Threepio!" she yelled, making her way to where the droid was tipped over into a computer cabinet. The girl tried to assist him but herself was knocked by one of C-3PO's flailing metal arms and sent sprawling on the ground.

"We've lost lateral controls!" Arlia heard Leia shout as she struggled to grab onto something. Finally, reaching a doorway, she clung on for dear life. Artoo, too heavy to tip over, began putting out one of the smoking control panels with an inbuilt fire retardant, rather like a fire extinguisher. This was, by far, the worst trip on the Millennium Falcon she'd had. Being chased by Imperial star cruisers caused less damage than the TIE fighters who could get in close and were more difficult to out manoeuvre.

There was another barrage of laser blasts, then an explosion, followed by a second.

"We got them!" Leia cried and Arlia could hear shouts of jubilation coming from the gunports. "There's still two more of them out there!"

There wasn't much more for Arlia to do other than grip the doorframe tightly as the Millennium Falcon bounced and shuddered around. There were more noises she recognised as made by lasers before another pair of explosions. Then, silence.

"Is that it?" Arlia asked.

"We did it!" Leia told her.

"Yes!"

She pumped her fist in the air and turned to the droids but discovered C-3PO on the ground, caught up in mess of wires that were sparking.

"Help! I think I'm melting!" Threepio cried then turned on the small blue droid. "This is all your fault!"

"Hang on!" She went over to him and and tried to untangle the wires but burnt herself. "Ow!" She shook her hand in an attempt to get rid of the pain.

"We did it!" Luke hollered as he climbed up the ladder, meeting Han who clapped the boy on the back. Arlia straightened up and ran over to the pair, unsure if a hug was acceptable so merely wrapped her arms around their necks.

"Well done," she told them.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," shrugged Han.

"You're so modest," she smiled.

"Although," he continued," the kid did his fair share of the work. That was some pretty good shooting." The two men shook hands. Leia exited the cockpit and approached the grinning trio.

"I want to thank you all for assisting in my rescue," she said regally.

"You're very welcome, your highness," Luke replied earnestly, a goofy smile on his face. Han rolled his eyes and Arlia was dismayed. _That's right, we're entering the whole 'Luke likes Leia because they don't know they're siblings' phase_ , she thought as Han left for the cockpit.

Leia stood in front of Arlia.

"I don't believe we've met."

"Oh, yeah, I'm Arlia Rider." _This is wierd. She's so dignified and in control whilst I'm just tagging along, trying not to die._ "Nice to meet you."

"So, Arlia, how did you come to be in the company of the others?" Clearly the Princess had had some 'talking to people without being awkward' lessons, a course Arlia felt she was in desperate need of as she struggled to come up with a coherent answer that didn't make her sound any crazier than they already thought.

"Lets um, let's just say it was under unusual circumstances and the first time I met Han, I had an argument with him." She hoped humour was the way to go.

"That doesn't surprise me," was the response, Leia smirking shrewdly, Arlia feeling compelled to return it. The conversation ended abruptly and the girl was relieved. _Talking to Han or Luke is so much easier than talking to royalty!_

She followed Leia into the cockpit, having seen Chewie and Luke assisting Threepio and slid into the seat behind Han.

"Not a bad bit of rescuing, huh? You know, sometimes I amaze even myself," the smuggler boasted.

"That doesn't sound too hard," retorted the Princess. Arlia smirked gleefully, looking forward to the new feature of Han and Leia arguments.

"Besides, they let us go," Leia continued. "It's the only explanation for the ease of our escape."

"Easy?" Han exclaimed. "You call that easy?"

"It was kind of hard," Arlia agreed in a low voice, not quite brave enough to contradict the Princess who went on to correct him.

"They're tracking us!"

"Not this ship, sister."

Leia shook her head in frustration at his insistence. "At least the information in Artoo is still intact."

"What's so important? What's he carrying?"

"A map of the Death Star," Arlia interjected.

"Yes," Leia went on, "The technical readouts of that battle station."

"Fine, make it fancier," Arlia muttered, annoyed. Leia looked at her curiously, she expected the girl to be as polite as Luke rather than rude like Han. She put it down to fatigue and went on with what she intended to say.

"I only hope that when the data is analysed, a weakness can be found. It's not over yet!"

"It is for me sister!" Han said forcefully. "Look, I ain't in this for your revolution and I'm not in it for you Princess. I expect to be well paid. I'm in it for the money."

 _At least he's honest_ , Arlia thought as Leia said scathingly:

"You needn't worry about your reward. If money is all you love than that's what you'll receive." She stood up, angry and left the cockpit, passing Luke in the doorway. "Your friend is quite a mercenary. I wonder if he really cares about anything or anyone."

"I care!" Luke called desperately after her. Arlia had been struggling not to laugh from the banter but sighed theatrically with a roll of the eyes at Luke's attempt to show Leia what a nice guy he was. _I mean, you are super nice Luke but she's your sister!_ Barely noticing Arlia, Luke sat next to the smuggler.

"So... what do you think of her, huh?"

"I'm trying not to kid," he said gruffly, focusing his attention on flying the ship.

"Good," Luke said under his breath, not soft enough though as Han heard him and got a mischievous glint in his eye, Arlia eagerly awaiting his comment.

"Still," Han said, "she's got a lot of spirit." He went for the kill. "I don't know, what do you think? A princess and a guy like me..."

"No!" Luke replied quickly with obvious jealousy and stood up, leaving to find Leia. Han and Arlia were both chuckling at his innocence.

"I don't know why you're laughing," he said to her.

"It's funny," she defended, getting to her feet. "He ought to realise you're just trying to annoy him."

"You're the last person I would have thought would be amused by their little romance." Han leaned forward to flick a switch.

"What do you mean?" she said, half-threateningly.

"I'm telling you, you and Luke seemed pretty close until the Princess waltzed in."

Arlia exhaled wearily. "Han, I've told you this before. I don't know Luke well enough to like him in that way."

"You could get to know him," Han suggested, eyebrows raised in skepticism at her denial.

"Well in that case, you could do the same thing with the Princess." She advanced towards him and poked his shoulder, too irritated to be embarrassed at the suggestion of her liking Luke Skywalker, let alone having a chance, even without Leia.

"Forget it," he declared with vigour. "I don't intend on going near her."

"Then you can shut up about Luke."

"Fine."

"Hey Arlia, are you..." It was Luke, back to see the girl, only to find her and Han with their faces near touching. Arlia had only been trying to show how deadly serious she was. _Damn!_

Han pounced on the opportunity and brushed his hand along Arlia's chin. "See ya'." With a wink, he exited, leaving her with Luke.

There was a few seconds of silence as Arlia attempted to push through her shock and embarrassment and make sure no one got the wrong impression about her and Han. She was angry at him but first tried to smooth things over with Luke. "Boy, is he a piece of work," she shook her head, hoping it sounded as normal and relaxed as she meant it to.

"Yeah," Luke agreed, subdued, then swallowed. "What was that about?"

"What was what about?"

"That thing with Han."

"Oh," she tried to appear casual. "Just trying to get something through his arrogant head." Arlia was unused to being a bargaining chip in a love triangle. It was really just Han, Luke and Leia, she had no claim to the boy, no matter what the smuggler insinuated. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find him again."

"Why?" Luke called after her as she stormed away.

"To find out of there's anywhere on this oh-so-wonderful ship that I can sleep!" Arlia shouted, hoping Han heard. She rounded a corner and saw him fixing some of the damage caused by the TIE fighters.

"You right there, kid?" he asked as she marched up.

"If you're quite finished playing lovers games, perhaps you could inform me how long it will be until we reach wherever we're going?" she demanded, one hand on her hip, the other held out expectantly.

"Calm down kid, we'll arrive at Yavin 4, the rebel base, in a few hours."

"I have a bone to pick with you but I'm too tired to do it now. Could you please direct me to a bed?"

"That way Arlia," Han nodded in the general direction. "There's a couple of cabins with beds."

"Good," she replied, yawning. "Wake me up when we arrive." Arlia easily found where he had directed her, sinking into the bed with a relieved sigh. She hadn't expected to fall asleep, she usually slept poorly under normal circumstances. But Arlia was barely awake for long, easily drifting into a sound sleep, exhausted form her few days of adventure and wondering if she would wake up and find it was all a dream. _That would be disappointing._

 _ **BREAK**_

"Arlia, Arlia," Luke said softly, gently prodding her shoulder. He'd been sent by a bickering smuggler and Princess to wake her up but almost hate doing to do it. She had only been asleep a few hours, her shoulder length hair, a little lighter than his own, was still remarkably unruffled, compared to matted in every direction, like it could have been. Her head was pressed against the pillow, a small damp patch near her mouth from saliva.

 _This is probably why people don't like you watching them when they sleep,_ he thought, _we all dribble_. Suddenly he felt embarrassed to be watching her sleep and quickly shook her.

"Wake up," he raised his voice louder. The rocking caused her to open her eyes and groan.

"What is it?" She pulled away from the grip Luke had on her shoulder and turned over.

"We just landed on Yavin 4. You gonna get up and make yourself presentable?"

Even that was met with reluctance and Arlia very slowly peeled back the blankets. She lifted one foot then the other out of bed and hung her legs over the side, sitting up. The girl smoothed down her hair and looked at Luke, a little confused at why he was still waiting, having stepped back a few paces.

Arlia gazed up and into his blue eyes which held her stare and she flickered her own away, cursing that she was terrible at eye contact. There was more shuddering that echoed around the Millenium Falcon, it wasn't from blaster fire, Arlia could now recognise that. It was the ship landing, rather like when her school bus would stop. If you weren't holding onto anything, you simply fell. That's what happened to Luke, he toppled over and landed on top of Arlia.

Instead of trying to steady him, out of mortification, she pushed Luke away, unintentionally shoving him to the ground. When the Falcon came to a stop, the continuous hum gone, Arlia realised her mistake and her hands flew to cover her mouth.

"Sorry," she apologised.

"It's okay," Luke said, declining her assistance in getting to his feet. "I think I might leave waking you up to someone else next time. That was almost as bad as Chewie." It was supposed to be a joke but the girl didn't smile.

"Hey, Luke, Arlia!" It was Han, quickly dashing into the room. "You coming or what?"

She couldn't even look at Luke so charged our after the smuggler, assuming the boy would follow. Going down the ramp, Arlia saw Leia seated on a speeder, next to it's 'driver', a worker in the rebel base. They were in an enormous hanger filled with any number of ships, including X-Wings, Y-Wings and a numerous rebel crafts she couldn't name. The speeder, with Leia, Arlia, Luke, Han, Chewie, C-3PO and R2-D2, glided along, reaching a group of soldiers headed by en elderly man in a regal uniform signalling authority. The man met Leia, giving her a hug.

"You're safe! We feared the worst. When we heard about Alderaan..." his voice died away, the Princess picked up where he left off.

"We don't have time for sorrow, commander. The battle station has surely tracked us here." It was then Leia directed a pointed glance at Han who stood with Luke and Arlia. "It's the only explanation for the ease of our escape. You must use the information in this R2 unit to plan the attack. It's our only hope."

The commander called over two men who took Artoo and Threepio away and he showed Leia to where they would be planning the attack.

"So what do we do now?" Arlia asked with a frown, unsure, as they were left behind. The rest of the base seemed occupied with whatever they had to accomplish.

"I don't know about you guys," said Han, "but Chewie and I are gonna sort out our reward."

"Mercenary," she commented, rolling her eyes.

"Don't you start," he warned. "C'mon Chewie."

"We'll be in the canteen if you need us!" Arlia called after him.

"Wait, Han!" shouted Luke but the smuggler and his first mate had already disappeared. "He better not leave!" the boy fumed.

"Luke, you try and force him to stay and he'll only want to leave more," Arlia said with an air of Obi-Wan wiseness but she was also shouting the same threat in her head. _If he doesn't return, Luke dies and it will be all my fault!_ "Let's go."

"Where?"

"I don't know about you but I am starving. I haven't eaten in almost a day!" Her stomach was making dying whale noises which she hoped no one else would hear. "Excuse me." She approached one of the other people around them. "Do you know where the canteen is?"

The woman, dressed in a white uniform with a belt in which all manner of strange (to Arlia) tools hung from, was about to reply when an announcement came over the speaker system of the base.

"All pilots are to report to the main hanger at 1200 hours."

"Is that you?" Arlia asked Luke.

"I don't know. I should probably find out." He cocked his head to one side, having been struck by the thought. "I'll meet you in the canteen, okay?" She nodded and he, like Han, walked away, even though she desperately didn't want him to. This time, she followed him with her eyes until he was out of sight.

"I'll take you to the canteen." It was the woman again, completely missing Arlia's disinterest. "I'm Private Lersa, by the way."

"Arlia Rider," the girl introduced herself. "It's nice to meet you." She followed the Private through the many corridors, passing other personnel who gave her strange glances and nudged their counterparts.

"I take it you're new."

"Well, you're right, I only just got here on the Millennium Falcon."

Private Lersa suddenly looked alert. "You came here on the Millennium Falcon? Were you part of the group that rescued Princess Leia?"

"I guess so. News travels fast."

"Usually. It must have been scary on the Death Star. You and the others are very brave."

 _Don't tell me I've actually procured some respect from these people!_ They finally stopped in front of two large doors.

"Here we are," said Private Lersa. "Goodbye Miss Rider." Arlia stood outside the massive panels and searched for controls to open the doors but there were many switches and labels underneath them in the language she believed to be basic, not that she could understand it. Thankfully, two pilots in orange jumpsuits exited from the other side, letting her in. She tried to act as if she hadn't been awkwardly waiting outside and marched in.

Inside the canteen were many long white tables and two walls that had a selection of food and drink. She went straight over to a cabinet like a vending machine and took out the only thing she recognised, blue milk, a liquid she didn't even like but thought it best to play safe.

Going over to the food side, she took a tray and perused through the various options. She saw a man take a serving of what looked like vegetables and decided to be healthy, scooping those, a couple of brown, crumbling bars she remembered from another Star Wars movie and something she assumed was bread.

Arlia took her tray and sat down at a vacant table near the entrance, hurriedly devouring the 'bread' which did taste like what it looked and the 'vegetables' which were disgusting but she forced herself to eat, washing it all down with some blue milk. The brown bars were the only thing left by the time Han Solo and Chewbacca cruised into the canteen.

"Hey kid!" he said with a grin. Arlia stopped hungrily eating all on her plate.

"You seem happy," she noticed, swallowing a mouthful of food.

"You're looking at a guy who just worked out a very handsome reward for his trouble." He sat across from her. "Chewie, get us something to eat." The Wookiee growled, probably a complaint but went off nonetheless.

"Isn't it sad that the only thing that makes you happy is money?" Arlia bit into one of the brown bars, it was harder than she'd anticipated and it took a lot of munching to eat.

Ignoring her comment, Han went on. "So where's Luke?"

"Off somewhere, trying to find out if he'll be taking part in the Death Star attack."

Han looked shocked. "Does that kid have a death wish? He must be crazy."

"I'd join if I only knew how to pilot a ship," Arlia declared wistfully. Chewie returned and, over a meal, they made small talk.

"So, what planet do you hail from?" asked Han.

"Earth."

"I've never heard of it!" He made a point of raising his eyebrows.

"I get that a lot." She was tired of explaining and ended the conversation by not elaborating. The door to the canteen opened again and this time, Luke entered, dressed in the same orange jumpsuits as the other pilots.

"Can I have one?" He pointed to the bars.

"Sure," she finished her own as he slid in next to her. "So, are you part of the attack?"

"I sure am," he replied with an excited smile. "I'll be up there with the other pilots in an X-Wing."

"I think you're both nuts," Han shook his head disapprovingly.

"All personnel to the main hanger," came the message over the speaker system, repeating it for good measure.

"We'd better go," said Luke and the group made their way out of the canteen, briskly walking through the corridors. It seemed the entire base was headed in the same direction, eventually, they all arrived in an open area filled with seats occupied by many other pilots in orange jumpsuits.

Han and Chewie planted themselves at the back, comfortably leaning against a ship. Luke saw all the other pilots forwarding in to sit with each other and was uncertain whether or not he should stick with his friends or join the others.

"You go ahead," said Arlia, deciding for him, "I'll wait at the back with Han. You'll probably blend in more." He gave her a smile, following her instructions as she watched him before she drew back to join Han and Chewie.

A man by the name of Dodonna stood at the front of the group to the right of the rebel leaders, including Leia, as the Death Star plans were projected from Artoo onto a screen.

"The battle station," began Dodonna, "is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the starfleet. It's defences are designed around a large-scale direct assault. A small one-man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defence."

Arlia tried to comprehend what he was saying, now that she actually was in Star Wars, she might as well learn all she could. Even so, it made her brain hurt.

"Han," she whispered, "I might head to the Falcon and unload your precious reward."

He nodded in consent. "Don't load it. I know where it needs to go."

"Okay." She slipped away from the meeting and to the main hanger. By the Millennium Falcon stood a man with a clipboard, who seemed habitually nervous. He was next to a trolley that had boxes stacked on it.

"Are you Captain Solo?" he asked Arlia.

"Do I look like a guy?" she rebuked.

"Well, no, I-"

"Look, Captain Solo sent me to unload his reward. Is this it?"

"Yes. But he needs to sign for it!" cried the man, alarmed.

Arlia sighed. "Look, he'll be along in a minute. I'll get started."

"Uh-"

She didn't listen to his objections but started lifting the boxes and stacking them to one side. She only got through a few when all the pilots and groundsman arrives. The attack was beginning.

"Hey, thanks for this," said Han, having arrived with his first mate.

"Nice to be useful. I'm pretty useless around here, nothing looks familiar and I could have killed myself getting something to eat. I was really taking my life into my own hands." She stopped talking when the smuggler started staring at her like she'd grown a second head. "Never mind."

Han shook his head, as if attempting to forget the last few seconds and move on to what he wanted to say. "Speaking of being useful, what'd you say to joining my crew and coming with me and Chewie? I can't promise it won't be dangerous but you'd be in good hands and you might learn something."

"That's nice of you," she started, "but I'm not sure. I'll think about it."

He raised his eyebrows. "You aren't going to give me a lecture to try and make me stay?"

Arlia almost cracked a smile. "I think Luke and Leia will do enough for all of us. Personally, I think they're right, you ought to stay. Now, I'm gonna go wait for Luke." She ambled off towards the X-Wings.

"You do realise you guys are dead, right?" Han shouted after her.

"I hope not," she said and the huskiness of her voice showed she meant it. "But if we are, I hope your conscience will let you get away with abandoning us to our fate." This time, the conversation was over and Arlia left, feeling nervous and triumphant at the same time. _This is way to stressful, I feel like I'm single-handedly holding the galaxy together!_

After asking around, she soon found Luke's ship though it was unoccupied. She slunk against a wall to wait. The amount of people nearby greatly increased, mainly consisting of rebel pilots and their crew. The attack was about to begin and Arlia scanned the crowd for Luke so she could say goodbye. Eventually, he emerged from the direction of the Millennium Falcon, he was hurt and angry at the same time, she could sense it.

Going towards him, she was cut off by Leia proceeding through the hanger. Arlia stood awkwardly a few metres away, not wanting to intrude on their conversation. When it ended the Princess gave him a final peck on the cheek and walked away. The same, thought smaller, jolt of shock went through her as when Uncle Owen and Aust Beru were killed. _This is...not normal. I don't think I'll ever get used to Luke liking Leia. I hope Luke doesn't sense I know something I'm not telling him!_ Shaking it aside, she approached him.

"Hi, Luke!"

"Hi." There was an awkward pause, then Luke spoke again. "Han told me he offered you a job and you were thinking about it. I thought you weren't going to leave!" A hint of betrayal laced his words. Arlia was distressed.

"I'm sorry, I just, don't feel useful. I can't even read your language! I'm useless."

"You're not," Luke told her firmly. "When I get back, I promise I'll help you. Okay?"

She nodded then thought ' _If you come back._ ' He was so eager and excited to join in the attack, not showing any fear. _If he doesn't return and we're all blown up, it will be my fault for altering something so that Han doesn't rescue him._ It was this realisation that caused her to wrap him in a tight hug, a proper one, unlike the others.

"Come back Luke," she whispered, holding back worried tears. When they stopped embracing, Arlia found herself leaning forwards and giving Luke a quick kiss on the lips. _What is this? Since when do I kiss people? That was my first one!_

Somehow, through her inner turmoil, her mouth managed to come up with:

"For luck."

He nodded.

"May the force be with you." she said as she watched him go to his ship and meet up with Biggs Darklighter, his friend from Tatooine. Once he was gone, a fierce blush spread over her face which she covered with her hands. _I can't believe I just kissed Luke Skywalker!_ Moving away from everyone, she situated herself behind a wall and watched the X-Wings take off for their attack on the Death Star, nervous butterflies filling her stomach. _Come back Luke,_ she repeated in her head.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for the HUGE gap between updates. Lost the motivation to write. I can't promise regular updates, it will be sporadic at best but it will happen. Hope you enjoy this chapter, it's getting away from what you see in the movies. As a side point; how AMAZING was Star Wars: The Last Jedi? I can't find anything wrong with it. Only problem is, I'm torn between two ships: Reylo (which is only a recent thing for me) and Rey/Poe (which I shipped from the start).**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. Only Arlia is mine.**

Arlia watched all the ships take off and debated whether or not to join Leia in the control room. The hanger seemed eerily deserted and the anxious bubble welling up inside her was causing turmoil. One the one hand, she desperately wanted to know if the attack was following the course of the movie. But there was a fear, a crippling dread which she had only felt in the some of the most traumatic moments in her life. _What if I've messed it up and we all die?_

"Mistress Arlia!" It was Threepio, pulling her from her thoughts. "Princess Leia requests your presence in the control room." The decision having been made for her, she followed a slow C-3PO to a large room filled with futuristic monitors that people sat at with headsets. A massive display with flashing dots in the middle of the room was where Leia stood. The Princess waved her over.

"I thought you might like a headpiece so you can communicate with Luke," she offered.

"Uh.." Arlia's indecision was ignored as the Princess placed the piece of technology on her her head.

"Just talk into it."

"Luke? Can you hear me?" There was a few seconds of tantalizing silence, then:

"Arlia, is that you?" came Luke's static reply.

"Yes, where are you?" she asked, as if she knew anything about the layout of the galaxy.

"We're approaching the Death Star, I'm currently moving into into position," he reported. "Just give me a few minutes of silence to focus."

"Right, I won't be a distraction. Good luck. And please, remember the Force." Arlia received no answer.

The massive display in the middle of the room suddenly lit up with the image of the Death Star and Yavin 4. Green dots appeared near the moon, which Arlia assumed were the rebel fighters.

"Stand-by alert. Death Star approaching. Estimated time to firing range, fifteen minutes." spoke a voice through an intercom and sent the people in the control room into nervous chatter. This scene had always been anxiety-inducing to watch, even if she knew how it ended but it was a million times worse actually being here. Arlia listened as the Red Leader had all the pilots report in, keeping an ear for Red Five, Luke's call sign. Thankfully, after hearing everyone from Biggs to Wedge, she caught:

"Red Five standing by."

She exhaled in relief and shot Leia an encouraging smile which was received with a regal, yet awkward nod of the head, as if she wasn't used to people acting like that around her. The next few words that Arlia caught over the intercom consisted of jargon that included phrases like "S-foils", "magnetic fields", and "deflectors". After listening to all the commands, she heard: "Accelerate to attack speed. This is it, boys!"

It was much more difficult to follow without visuals but it was Luke's mechanical-sounding voice that caught her attention.

"This is Red Five. I'm going in!" he said with a hint of excited breathlessness. Arlia bit her lip, anguish written all over her face for a few tantalising quiet moments.

"Luke, pull up!" cried Biggs, his voice crackling on the intercom. "Are you alright?"

"I got a little cooked but I'm okay!" Luke meant to reassure but Arlia ripped of the headset, flung it at Leia and fled the room, hurrying to the deserterted hanger. She leant against the wall closest to where Luke's X-Wing had sat and wept.

"I didn't want this! I can't handle it. I want to go home. Take me home, you stupid force. You only cause trouble. Take me home, please," she hiccuped with her fists clenched, "I'm begging you!" It was just as well she was alone, because someone would have heard her crying, offered help and promptly had their head bitten off, adding to the damage that Arlia already caused by picking up a nearby crate and throwing it to the ground with all her might, smashing it to pieces and sending the tools it contained all across the hanger.

Having let out her rage, she stood looking at the broken container and it's contents lying on the floor, eventually cooling down. Arlia held her head in her hands, ashamed at her actions. _I've never been angry enough to actually break something. I don't get angry very often._

She picked up the scattered tools and placed them in another crate, picking up the debris of the original crate and creating a neat pile. As she got to work, it had a calming effect as she was focused on the task and not occupying her mind with all the horrible emotions she was feeling. Once she could think rationally, Arlia decided she needed something to do. She couldn't bear returning to the control room and instead headed off in the direction of the cantina.

Having guessed the button to open the door, after vaguely remembering which one to press she entered the deserted, sterile room. There were still a couple of staff behind the tables, scraping out trays. It was then she realised the rebels were either going to die or evacuate and had to prepare for the latter option out of hope. She approached them, a little uncertain.

"Excuse me," she said, catching an aliens attention,"I was wondering if you needed any help with this?" She gestured towards the food.

"Have you been sent?" asked the alien, who seemed to be in charge.

"No, I came of my own accord. I was one of the people who arrived on the Millennium Falcon with the Death Star plans."

"Oh." A change came over the unusual creature. "I suppose it would be alright. You could wash those trays." Arlia went over to a basin filled with water and scrubbed away at the metal. _Isn't there some gadget that can do this?_

 **BREAK**

They had just completed stacking the trays when several bells rang out and Princess Leia spoke over a speaker system.

"Attention all staff! The Death Star has been destroyed. The fighters are returning. Please continue preparations for evacuation."

A few of the cooks gave delighted sequels and hugged one another, the alien making an unpleasant, but clearly joyful grunt. They'd all been on tenterhooks and Arlia realised that as much as she didn't want to mess things up, she hadn't got as far as preparing to die. _I guess I was somehow confident it would be alright._

"May I go?" She asked, eagar to greet the rebels and hopefully Han with them.

"Why?"

She was already heading for the door. "I have to see my friends. And make sure they're alive." Arlia made it to the hallway and sprinted the entire way, bursting into the hanger, which was steadily filling up with people. For a horrifying second, she couldn't see Luke or the Millennium Falcon but soon spotted the iconic spaceship and heard someone shout his name. She hurried in that direction, dodging around people but not stopping for anyone. A group had formed around an X-Wing and a cheer went up as Arlia could see a flash of orange. She pushed through them with life-or-death urgency and suddenly saw the iconic three; Han, Leia and Luke all together, laughing and smiling.

Arlia was, in that moment, very willing to shrink into the background and disappear but Han, the only one facing in that direction, spotted the girl and called out.

"Arlia!" he exclaimed. She advanced timidly but was pulled in by Luke and Han.

"So," she said, eyeing the smuggler whilst trying not to smile, "you came back, you old softie." He averted his eyes and looked the slightest bit embarrassed. Arlia was too mortified to look at Luke, having just got over her relief he was alive, she remembered the terms they had left on.

"Oh no!" Luke cried, crouching down to Artoo who was severely damaged. With his attention taken, Arlia took the opportunity to speak to Leia.

"Sorry about throwing the headphones at you," she apologised. The Princess nodded.

"It's alright. I understand," she replied with a wiseness Arlia envied. They were interupted by a distressed Threepio, who was worried about his little droid buddy with whom he had a love/hate relationship with.

"He'll be alright," Luke assured him. Arlia found herself squeezed into a human sandwich, with Han and Leia on either side of her and Luke next to the Princess as they moved out of the hanger, still beaming.

"Where are we heading?" asked Han.

"Well," said Leia, the only one familiar with how things worked, "we may be rebel scum, but we sure know how to celebrate. I thought you might enjoy going to a bar to party."

"I could certainly use a drink," mused Han. Arlia giggled, happy to laugh at anything. They broke apart and entered the establishment, which was already slightly full from others celebrating. The group found a table with stools and took a seat.

Han stood up. "All good if I get us a round of beers?" There was a cacophony of agreement and despite loathing the taste of beer, Arlia agreed, not wanting to be difficult.

"Leia," the girl said after Han had left, "what happens now?" Luke was very aware Arlia had been towards him since they returned and was puzzling over it. _Is it because of the kiss?_ It hadn't been bad, for his first kiss and it was for luck. _At least that's what she said._ Either way, the luck certainly helped. But then there was Princess Leia...

Arlia was just hoping her lame excuse had covered it in Luke's mind. As for her, she only wished for his safe return. _I mean, it's for the galaxy's sake! Let's just hope it isn't a big deal and we can move on._ Thus, she got Leia to carry the conversation.

"Well Arlia," the Princess said in reply to her question, "Tomorrow we plan on having a medal ceremony for Luke and Han."

"Did I hear something about a medal ceremony?" Han asked, appearing with a tray which was holding four beer glasses.

"Yes," replied Leia, taking a glass, "for you and Luke tomorrow morning. You're heroes now."

"Hey, what about Chewie?" griped Han, handing round the rest of the drinks and passing the tray to a waiter.

"We don't usually give medals to Wookiee's," Leia said.

"Besides," interjected Arlia, laughing slightly, "can you really see Chewie having a use for a medal?" Han took his seat and began sulking, slumping in his chair.

"Don't you think Arlia deserves a medal too?" Luke said, catching the aforementioned girl's eye, giving her a sincere smile which she returned after a few moment surprise.

"I'm not a hero. Just a hanger-on really," she said, turning from Luke and staring at the table, taking a sip of the bitter alcohol, which was still as disgusting as it was on earth.

"Tell you what," said Han, straightening up, "I'll forgive you for insulting Chewie and let you dance with me." He took Arlia away from the table abruptly by the arm, but she stared back at the table where Luke and Leia had started conversing. They joined the others that were on the dance floor with the music being supplied by a group called 'The Intergalactic Band'.

"You can thank me for saving you later," commented Han as they danced.

"From what?"

"Dancing with Luke. I don't think your embarrassment meter could stand it. Although you've been a little stand-offish since we got back. Did something happen?"

Arlia merely glared at him. "I think you should be grateful I let you drag me off. After all, you may have had to dance with Leia. Though she's probably more entertaining company for you."

He grinned. "She rises to the challenge. You're more laid-back."

"I think you'll find I just don't care very much for anything," the girl said humorously. Han rolled his eyes, not believing her for a minute. "Admit it Solo, you enjoy winding her up." This time he became sheepish but the pair stopped dancing when they were tapped. It was Luke and Leia, nearby.

"Mind if I cut in?" asked Luke.

"Sure," Arlia said quickly, happy to torture Han by making him dance with the Princess. _They're perfect for each other! He needs someone to kick him up the backside when he's being an arrogant fool._ She was so busy dwelling on the pleasant future that waited Han and Leia that she tuned out of dancing with Luke.

"Hey!" Luke roused the girl from her thoughts, having seen her smiling face with the look of being far away. "Is everything okay?" He meant more with the question and he hoped she'd understand.

"Everything's fine," Arlia replied shortly, feeling incredibly awkward. He was disappointed with her answer so moved on to a more sensitive topic.

"Thanks for the good luck. It must have helped."

"Did the force?" She remembered, successfully deflecting the topic. Luke suddenly recalled Obi-Wan's voice telling him to used the force.

"We need to talk about that when we have a free moment. When things aren't as hectic and busy."

She nodded and the song ended. Luke lead her back to the table where Han and Leia had already returned to. The smuggler spotted them first and looked primed to make a decisive comment but Arlia was ahead of him.

"Princess Leia, I hate to cut short the celebrations but three of us don't have a place to sleep and Luke and I have no clothes or belongings." She omitted the blasters and lightsaber for clarity.

Han spoke before the Princess gave her the solution. "I'll sleep on the Falcon if you don't mind, your worshipfulness. And I can lend Luke some clothes for the awards ceremony tomorrow."

"I'll go and sort some rooms and clothes," said Leia, having got a word in edgewise. "Where can I find you?"

"The Falcon, I guess," Luke shrugged.

"Okay." Leia stood up and left.

"I'm going too," said Arlia swiftly, making her way out of the bar.

"Nice dance?" enquired Han with raised eyebrows when she was out of sight.

"Yes thank you," Luke replied icily, getting to his feet. "Are you coming to the Falcon, or what?"

"Sure kid." They made the rest through their the hallways in relative silence until Han felt compelled to ask a question. "How did you come to be travelling with her?"

"She stumbled out of the Tatooine desert. My aunt and uncle took her in and she was there when the stormtroopers... killed them." The tremble in his voice did not go unnoticed.

"Have you ever heard of 'Earth'?"

"No, never."

"I've flown all over the galaxy and it doesn't ring a bell at all. There's a planet called Eadu but that's as close as I could come. Ask her about it."

"You ask her if you're so interested," Luke said roughly. Han put his hands up.

"Listen, I just wanna make sure I know who I'm dealing with."

"You don't trust her?" There was an injured tone in his voice.

"I don't know. Do you?"

Luke glared at the smuggler and quickened his pace until he was in the hanger. Arlia was seated on the Millennium Falcon's ramp, leaning her head against one of the retractable poles with her eyes half-closed. Luke came and shook her. She smiled.

"I guess I'm tired."

"You had a nap on the Falcon," Han pointed out in disbelief, "How can you possibly be tired?"

"Emotional weariness, I suppose."

"What are you worried about?" asked Luke with more concern.

"The fact your planet doesn't exist?" quipped Han.

Her forehead creased. "My planet does exist!" She insisted. "It's... in another galaxy."

"What?" Luke and Han exclaimed simultaneously.

Arlia held up her hand. "I know for you it is unbelievable. But I still don't understand it myself. I can only figure it has something to do with the force."

The two men both had many questions but didn't have enough time to put them into words before Leia arrived.

"I've found you two a room." She had nothing further to say and Arlia called up a goodnight to Chewie inside the Falcon who responded with a farewell grunt, then she followed the Princess. Luke gave a bewildered expression to Han whose face had a similar look and he shook his head.

Luke caught up with the the other two women. The corridors of the rebel base were deserted, it was still spooky to Arlia. They would have to share a room and were each given a crate of belongings.

"Arlia," said Leia, "I had some clothes similar to mine picked out so they weren't just standard uniforms. I had to guess the size but I figured it was a couple of sizes bigger than mine." Arlia was about 5 foot 7, a little shorter than Luke but they were all towered over by Han.

"Thank you," the girl replied gratefully, sensing a bit more normality from the composed Princess, who promptly left them. Arlia went about her nightly routine, similar to what she should do in her own home on Earth. She changed into what she'd jokingly dubbed 'Space PJ's', which was essentially a long sleeve shirt and long pants before climbing into her bed which was across the room from Luke's. Her hair was wet from the shower that she was extremely thankful for. The fluorescent lights were turned out amd it was completely dark.

"Arlia," whispered Luke, "tell me about Earth."

"Where we talk about the force, then I will." She sighed. He would have to be satisfied with that, for now.

 **BREAK**

The next morning, everyone was making last minute preparations for the evacuation, though the average rebel didn't know where the new base would be. They had time, the empire was in turmoil, they had taken a huge blow. Arlia had woken up earlier than Luke and snuck down to the hall where the ceremony would take place. It was empty and there's wasn't much activity going on in a room which in a few hours would house the entire rebel forces on Yavin 4. Arlia could picture the epic scene at the end of 'A New Hope' and started humming the theme music.

"What song is that?" It was Leia, dressed in her regal gowns.

"Just something from Earth."

"Ah." She seemed to be thinking for a moment. "I've arranged for you to be on stage during the ceremony so you're near your friends. You can stand with Threepio."

Arlia beamed. "That would be wonderful." _I haven't talked to C-3PO in ages!_ "I know you can't tell us the location of our new base until it is transmitted to the ships but what am I supposed to do?"

"I wanted to talk to you about that. I've already seen Luke but you weren't around this morning. He's flying his X-Wing and Artoo out with the small amount of equipment we can fit on it. Han's ship has been assigned to cargo supplies also. Until we get to Ho-, I mean, the new base, I figured you would be part of my personnel staff and journey on my cruiser. We can get you a job when we arrive."

Arlia was reminded the planet would be Hoth, a cold, deserted place. "Leia, you wouldn't mind if I went on the Falcon with Han. There's plenty of room and I can help with the loading and unloading."

"That'd be fine." Leia was oddly disappointed. It wasn't often she had an acquaintance the same age as her around who could become her friend. _I guess I can be a little unwelcoming. "_ I'd better let Han know."

Arlia walked alongside her to the hanger. Han wasn't outside his ship but the ramp was down and the pair went inside.

"Han!" called Arlia.

"Down here!" They found him down the gunner chute, doing repair work. "Princess, saving your hide sure didn't help my ship. Good thing I got paid."

"Your ship has been assigned cargo transportation. And Arlia will be travelling with you," Leia informed him authoritatively.

"Okay, your highnessness," Han replied with mock respect.

"Goodbye Arlia," Leia said, ignoring the smuggler and leaving the ship.

"Boy, isn't she just warm and fuzzy?"

Arlia didn't respond to the comment, instead saying: "You dressing up for the ceremony?" Han climbed up the ladder.

"You haven't," he said.

"What do you mean?" she cried with mock outrage. "These are the smartest clothes Leia gave me." The girl hadn't touched the dresses given to her or the casual clothes but put on a smart white uniform that was comfortable but neat. "All you've done is button up your shirt."

"I didn't ask for some stupid ceremony. I'm even startin' to regret coming back when you people are on my case all the time."

"Listen, you got the clothes for Luke?"

"Yeah."

"I can take them to him if you like."

"Hang on." Han started rummaging through some of the compartment and eventually dug out a shirt, jacket and pants with a belt. "Here."

"Thanks. I'll see you at the ceremony." She left, shaking her head, then spotted Chewie on the Falcon's roof. "You gonna be at the ceremony?" He growled while nodding. "See you there."

She returned to her temporary room and Luke was still there, packing his things into the crate. He was still in his pyjamas and she remembered Leia saying she'd been to see him earlier, causing a twinge until: _That's right, they're brother and sister._

"Here's the clothes from Han." She explained the updated travelling arrangements and offered to take his crate on the Falcon with hers which he agreed to. Arlia packed her things and had just finished when a man called Private Carnaway arrived to tell the the Princess required their presence in the control room. A little confused as to the reason, they arrived and saw Han was there also. All the other leaders of the rebellion were present, only further puzzling the trio. The man named Dodonna began speaking.

"Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. In recognition of your services in bringing the Death Star plans to us and the subsequent destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Aliance has seen it fit it award you the rank of Commander." They were each brought a badge and Luke beamed with pride while Han had the slightest hint of a scowl.

Dodonna continued. "Arlia Rider. In recognition of your services in bringing the Death Star plans to us, the Rebel Alliance has seen fit to awards you the rank of First Lieutenant." She was also brought a badge but was in complete shock. They called forward Wedge Antilles, whom Arlia had missed spotting but she was too happy to pay attention as he was promoted.

Princess Leia spoke. "We will now make our way to the medal ceremony." Arlia waved farewell to Han and Luke and went with the rest as they stood at the front of the assembled rebel forces. It was strange and rather embarrassing to be at the front of all those people. Everyone was in neat formations when Han and Luke ended followed by Chewie. They walked up the aisle and Arlia realised the John Williams musical score was the one thing that kept it from becoming awkward so she had to sing it softly otherwise she was going to start giggling and ruin the moment. The rebels turned forward when the trio reached the stairs and stood in front of Leia who gave the medal to Han first. He winked at her.

Luke was glancing at people and smiled when he saw Threepio and Arlia next to him. Her heart swelled with pride as he was given his medal, even though it felt a little corny. They turned toward the crowd and Chewie gave a long growl, presumably lamenting he didn't get a medal.

Artoo beeped and shuffled on to the stage to the delight of Arlia and Luke.

"Your friend's here kid," hissed Han at her as she kneeled down by the droid. One of the generals moved forward.

"Rebel forces," he said, "the evacuation begins now. You should have have your instructions from our commanders and we need to have all staff and equipment on the ships as soon as possible. Those of you who are pilots, the location of the base will be transmitted to your crafts. May the force be with you." It was the cue for them to disperse and everyone started moving.

Luke and Arlia, after talking quickly with the droids, sprinted to their rooms and put the crates on a cart to transport them.

"Take care of it," he told her, "My father's lightsaber is in there." They both attached their belts with the newly issued blasters on them. "We'll talk about the force when we next see each other. I promise."

"Amd I swear on my life to guard your lightsaber. And tell you about Earth. Goodbye Luke." They hugged briefly and Arlia watched Luke run off to his X-Wing and Artoo. She took the cart handle and moved it to the hanger, loading the Millennium Falcon after consulting Han. They both loaded the other cargo that the Rebels gave them, the more valuable items going in the smuggling compartments in case of capture. Chewie was on the roof doing some last minute repairs on the so-called 'piece of junk'.

Han had already stashed his medal and badge away while Arlia was wearing her First Lieutenant badge proudly pinned to her collar. He'd already unbuttoned his shirt so he was back to looking like good old, regular Han Solo. The Falcon was eventually filled to capacity and Arlia was ready to stop lifting boxes, happy to sit in the cockpit behind Han and Chewie.

"Send a message to the tower saying we're ready to take off," the smuggler instructed his copilot. "The location of the new base should come through any moment." After a few seconds of waiting, there was a beeping and the location was received.

"Oh no!" was Han's first reaction and Chewbacca gave a mournful groan.

"What is it?"

"They're sending us to Hoth!"

"So?" She knew this was coming.

"It's uninhabitable! Ridiculously cold. Hardly anything lives there because it can't survive."

"The Empire will never think we're there if what you say is true," the girl reminded him.

"I just not sure we can survive."

"We'll have to." Arlia pondered on what she knew about Hoth. It was everything he'd described it to be. _This is going to be miserable. I hate being cold!_ she thought dismally.


End file.
